
NITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

BULLETIN, 1915, NO. 21 WHOLE NUMBER 648 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION 

A STUDY OF THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
GOVERNING THE HYGIENE AND SANI- 
TATION OF SCHOOLHOUSES 



By WILLIAM A. COOK 

HIGH-SCHOOL VISITOR. UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1915 



Monograph 



UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

BULLETIN, 1915, NO. 21 WHOLE NUMBER 648 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION 

A STUDY OF THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
GOVERNING THE HYGIENE AND SANI- 
TATION OF SCHOOLHOUSES 



By WILLIAM A. COOK 

HIGH-SCHOOL VISITOR. UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1915 



iMon °grapf ? 






ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAT BE PROCURED FROM 

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

AT 

10 CENTS PER COPY 



f). OF 0, 
OCT 21 |915 



TMP92-008323 









CONTENTS 



Page 

Letter of transmittal 4 

I. Introduction 5 

II. General control exercised by the State 8 

III. The school site 18 

IV. The water supply 27 

V. Toilets - 28 

VI. Protection against fire and panic 33 

VII. Lighting 47 

VIII. Heating 50 

IX. Ventilation 52 

X. Cleaning and disinfecting 57 

XI. Furniture and equipment 60 

XII. Miscellaneous 63 

Bibliography 66 

3 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Education, 
Washington, June 1, 1915. 
Sir: With the increase of population, the lengthening of the school 
life of children, and the consolidation of small into large schools, 
often with many hundreds of children in one building, the care of 
the health of children while in school becomes correspondingly more 
important. Since the health of school children depends to a large 
extent on the location, heating, lighting, ventilation, and other san- 
itary arrangements of schoolhouses, the laws of States and the regu- 
lations of boards of education relating thereto are of great interest 
and importance to all. I therefore recommend that the accompany- 
ing manuscript on schoolhouse sanitation, the result of a study by 
Mr. William A. Cook, of the University of Colorado, into laws and 
regulations governing the hygiene and sanitation of schoolhouses, be 
published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education. 
Respectfully submitted. 

P. P. Claxton, 

Commissioner. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

A STUDY OF THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE HYGIENE AND SANITATION 

OF SCHOOLHOUSES. 



I. INTRODUCTION. 

This bulletin reviews the standards that are set to-day in the dif- 
ferent States concerning the physical environment to which the child 
is intrusted by compulsory attendance upon public schools. The 
school endeavors to instruct the child how to avoid ills of various 
sorts; the State, through inspection, is barring from the school those 
persons who may be a source of danger to others — these are facts 
that need not at present concern us, though they afford scope for 
a volume. This bulletin is confined to the hygienic provisions regard- 
ing the school site and the school plant. 

There are difficulties in the way of a satisfactory treatment of this 
subject; some of them should be noted at the outset. The school 
codes of many States omit some of the laws bearing on school sanita- 
tion. These omissions can only be discovered by a careful scrutiny 
of the statutes. At the same time it is impossible to tell what shall 
be to-morrow. Various executive authorities, clothed with different 
degrees of power relative to control of school environment, are com- 
petent to act at any moment. State departments of education, State 
and local boards of health, fire marshals, factory inspectors, district 
police, etc., are some of the agencies charged with authority to make 
and enforce regulations carrying all the weight of statutory law. The 
courts, on the other hand, are competent to review these laws and 
rulings, and have already in several of the States handed down im- 
portant decisions bearing upon school hygiene. 

Increased facilities for communication and the similarity in ideals 
of the people of the different States have occasioned gigantic strides 
in the last few years in the legal and administrative control of school 
hygiene. Probably nine-tenths of the existing regulation of this sort 
has come within the last decade. The movement continues largely 
by a process of imitation and adaptation. Each State profits by 
the experience of 47 others. A law passed in one extreme of the 
country to-day is copied next month or next year by a State two or 
three thousand miles distant. 

As a consequence of the way laws accumulate and administrative 
authority is exercised, there will be noted some contradictions and 

5 



6 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

many duplications in law, much of vagueness in administrative 
regulations, and some conflict in administrative authority. The 
last is by far the most serious difficulty. It is due for the most part 
either to reluctance on the part of legislatures to delegate power and 
provide penalties, or to the fact that the administrative officer is 
dependent for his reelection upon a more or less temporary popularity. 

Illustrations will make this plainer. The superintendent of 
public instruction 1 in one State writes: "While the law requires 
that the plans (of all school buildings) be approved, the methods of 
enforcing such approval are rather meager." Reference to the State 
law reveals that there is no penalty whatever for violations. The 
State superintendent of Utah complains that the law establishing 
a State schoolhouse commission for the approval of building plans 
in that State is not effective because no appropriation has been made 
to meet the expenses of the inspection necessary to satisfy the com- 
mission that the plans and specifications are executed as approved. 2 
By authorization of law the department of public instruction in a 
certain State has established requirements for ventilating rural 
schools that expect a bonus from the State. Additional recommenda- 
tion and discussion of ways and means are embodied in a circular 
issued to school officials. With a view to discovering how much 
was recommendation and how much requirement, a blank entitled 
"County Superintendent's Inspection Report" was secured, and 
upon it were noted such replies to the various queries as a leading 
official of the State Department felt would constitute the minimum 
for the granting of the bonus. The circular of the State Department 
says that "the chimney built for the outlet must be at least 16 by 16 
or 12 by 24 inside measurement"; yet a favorable report is made 
on applications giving 12 by 12 as the inside measurement. The 
fresh-air intake "should be at least 14 inches in diameter," but in 
practice 12 inches is accepted, with a foul-air outlet of equal size, 
though the State circular reads : ' ' The foul-air outlet must be larger 
than the fresh- air intake." Complaint was made unofficially by a 
member of this department that county superintendents are too 
dependent upon local good will to be ideal inspectors. They are 
disposed, in some instances, to get as much money as possible for 
their schools regardless of conditions. 

It is neither possible nor desirable in the following pages to intro- 
duce the multiform difficulties and uncertainties that the subject 
offers. It will be necessary to be liberal in recognizing recommen- 
dations as requirements. The State requirements are presented in 
the language of the original as nearly as terseness and exactness 
permit; requirements set up by smaller administrative units have 

1 For convenience the term " State superintendent " will hereafter be used in referring to the chief educa- 
tional officer of any State not having a commissioner, 

2 Ninth Rep. Supt. Pub. Instr., Utah (advance sheets), pp. 13-14. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 7 

been disregarded and attention focused mainly on the provisions of 
the different States. 

Facts germane to this subject might be presented in a variety of 
arrangements. All data might be arranged geographically, showing 
first what are the regulations regarding school hygiene in Alabama, 
then in Arizona, then in Arkansas, etc. Such a procedure would be 
of some interest and merit from its possibility of holding up to scorn 
certain States and adding new laurels to the already widely heralded 
prestige of others. The data, on the other hand, might be arranged 
to show whether, in the establishment of standards, reliance is placed 
upon law or upon administrative agents. However, the fundamental 
interest of the educational public is in the standards of school hygiene, 
not where they obtain or by whom promulgated. For this reason 
the entire subject has been divided into a number of general topics, 
and under these the States are considered in alphabetical order. 

An arbitrary scheme of notation has been employed in the table 
covering these topics. While such a presentation involves some 
disadvantages, in no other way can so much of detail and yet so 
correct a general impression be caught at a single glance. 

1. [Regulating authority: 

Statutory (legislative enactments) =L. 

Judicial (decisions in common or statute law)= J. 

Administrative (rules of State departments of education, health, etc.)=X. 

2. Enforcing authority: 

Educational — 

State=A. 

County=B. 

Town=C. 

District=D. 
Health— 

State=A'. 

County=B'. 

Local=C. 
Fire or factory inspectors, etc. — 

State=A". 

Local=C". 

3. Character of regulation: 

Mandatory=m. 
Permissive=p. 
Encouraged by financial aid=e. 

4. Extent of application: 

State wide=a. 

Outside certain classes of cities=b. 
Consolidated district only=c. 
Rural districts only=d. 

After each table appears a brief discussion of the facts of the 
table, including certain supplementary material that does not lend 
itself to the tabular form. Before reaching a conclusion as to any 
given regulation, the reader should consult the discussion as well as 
the table. 



8 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

II. GENERAL CONTROL EXERCISED BY THE STATE. 

By lodging with the several administrative officials powers of 
advice, approval of plans and equipment for school buildings, in- 
spection and even condemnation of plants in operation, the State 
has made large extensions of its control over school environment. 
Advice is hardly a form of control; nevertheless, it constitutes the 
entering wedge of something more effective. Moreover, the func- 
tion of advice is greatly strengthened when it is made legal, because 
the same act of the legislature that authorizes advice often sets 
aside a sum for the performance of the work. Table 1 summarizes 
the general situation regarding powers of advice, approval, inspection, 
and condemnation or correction. 

Forty of the States have taken some legal action to limit the 
local officials regarding hygienic precautions in erecting school 
buildings. The States that appear not to have taken legal steps in 
this direction are Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, 
Nebraska, New Mexico, and Tennessee. It does not follow that 
the State departments of education in these eight States are indif- 
ferent or even inactive with regard to the condition of schoolhouses. 
Through annual reports, circulars, and pamphlets, and the granting 
of certificates or commissions to ''model schools," etc., all possible 
moral suasion is put into play. 

Table 1. — General control exercised by the State without definite standards. 



[For explanation 


of symbols, see p. 


v.] 




States and references. 1 


Advice. 


Approval. 


Inspection. 


Inspection com- 
bined with 
condemnation 
(or correction). 






LAed 














LA'pa. 


California: SchoolLaw, subdivision 
11. sec. 1543; also sec. 1546. 

Connecticut: Rev. Stat, of 1888, sec. 
2185. Laws Relating to Schools, 
sec. 249. 

Delaware: Laws of Delaware, ch. 
327, vol. 22; School Laws, p. 10. 

Florida: Gen. Stat., sec. 1120; Acts 
of 1909. ch. 5931. 

Idaho: Rule State Bd. of Ed., 
Handbook of Inf. for Trustees, p. 
45; School Laws, p. 5; Laws of 
1909, House Bill, No. 171; Rules 
State Bd. of Health. 

Indiana: Burns' Annotated Stat- 
utes, Revision of 1908, sec. 7594; 
Reps. State Bd. of Health, va- 
rious years; Blue v. Beach, 155 
Ind.121. 

Iowa: School Laws, p. 65; Fif- 
teenth Bien. Rep. State Bd. of 
Health, p. 39; Code of Iowa, sec. 
2568. 




LBmb 




LBpb. 














LA'pa 


LBpe. 








LA'pa. 






LApa; LB'ma.. 

LA'pa Jpa 

XC'ma 


XA'B'C'pa. 




XA'pa. 






LC'pa. 











1 Where it has been necessary to give more than one reference under a State, the citations are arranged 
very nearly as they give the data of the columns following from left to right. 

Interpret according to the scheme laid out on pp. 5-6 preceding, by reading, for example: In Alabama, 
the State education department must approve plans for rural districts before State aid can be extended; 
or again, in Louisiana, plans for all new schoolhouses must, according to a rule of the State board of health, 
be approved by the State education authority and the parish (county) education and health officials. 
The law also gives power to the State health authorities of Louisiana to inspect all schoolhouses. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 9 

Table 1. — General control exercised by the State without definite standards. — Continued. 



States and references. 



Kansas: Laws Relating to Schools, 

p. 90. 
Kentucky: Rule State Bd. of 

Health, Rep. State Bd. of Health, 

1908-9, p. 194; School Laws, pp. 

19, 25. 
Louisiana: Rule State Bd. of 

Health; School Laws, p. 124; 

Rev. Stat., sec. 3063. 

Maine: Laws of 1909, ch. 88 

Maryland: School Laws, pp. 21, 46. 
Massachusetts: Acts of 1913, ch. 655; 

Laws Relating to Pub. Instr.,pp. 

114-118. 
Michigan: School Laws, p. 177; 

Rule State Bd. of Health, Public 

Health, Jan.-Mar., 1910, p. 47; 

Laws of 1911, No. 255. 
Minnesota: State Health Laws and 

Reg., May 1, 1912; Bui. No. 40, 

Dept. Pub. Instr.; Rev. Laws 

of 1905, sec. 2131; Gen. Stat. 1913, 

sec. 2874, 2691, 4640 (6); Rules, 

Dept. of Ed., 1915, Bull. 56. 
Mississippi: Code of 1906, sec. 

2513-2514; School Laws, 1914. 
Montana: Laws of 1913; Rev. Code, 

1907, sec. 1483; Rule State Bd. of 

Health. 

Nevada: School Code, p. 26 

New Hampshire: Pud. Stat, in 

force Jan. 1, 1901, p. 338. 
New Jersey: School Laws, pp. 

72-73, 195. 
New York: Education Law, sees. 

451-453, pp. 102-103. 
North Carolina: School Laws, pp. 

56, 102. 
North Dakota: School Laws, pp. 

30, 103, 104, 105; Laws of 1913, ch. 

6 and 263, House Bill, No. 378. 
Ohio: State Bldg. Code of 1911; 

Code of 1910, sec. 4424; Laws of 

1910, pp. 395-397. 
Oklahoma: Rev. Laws, sec. 6788. . . 

Oregon: General Laws, sec. 3999 

Pennsylvania: School Code, pp. 

42, 52-53; Act of Apr. 27, 1905. 
Rhode Island: Laws of 1911, ch. 725. 
South Carolina: School Law, pp. 

26-27,40-41,63; Acts of 1912, No. 

419. 
South Dakota: School Law, sees. 

32, 237. 
Texas: Law effective July 1, 1913 

Rev. Civil Stat., arts. 2756, 4.529. 
Utah: School Law, pp. 29-30; 

Compiled Laws, 1907, sec. 174, 

1104x-1104x3, 1113x18-1113x20. 
Vermont: Pub. Stat., sec. 1513, 

1516-1518. 
Virginia: School Laws, pp. 42-43, 

44. 
Washington: School Laws, pp. 33, 

51, 61, 69; Codes and Statutes, 

sec. 4532. 
West Virginia: School Law, pp. 

14, 43, 63; Code, sees. 2050, 2051. 

Wisconsin: Laws relating to 
schools, pp. 89-91, 142, 229-230, 
230-231; Laws of 1901, ch. 225; 
Laws of 1913, ch. 30. 

Wyoming: Compiled Stat., 1910, 
sec. 2941. 



Advice. 



LApa. 



LA'md. 



LAma. 



LABB'ma. 



LAma. 



LAma. 



LA'm. 



L (medical 
inspector) 
pa. 

LAma 



Approval. 



L (State archi- 
tect) ma. 



XA'ABB'ma. 



LAA'ma. 
LBmb... 
LA"ma.. 



LXAmaec; XA 



LAA'ma. 
LAma 



LAma 

LAmb 

LABma 

LAeb; LAma 



LA'B'C'A"C"ma 



LBmb. 
LAmb. 



LAma. . 
LABea. 



LAma 

LBDma., 
LAA'mb. 

LA'ma... 
LBma. .. 
LBmb... 



LBma 

LBma; LAe. 



Inspection. 



LA 'pa. 



L (medical in- 
spectors) ma; 
LA'pa. 



LA'ma. 



X (medical in- 
spectors) ma. 



LA'pa. 



LA'ma. 



LBma. 
LC'ma. 



Inspection com- 
bined with 
condemnation 
(or correction). 



XC'ma; LBma. 



LA"pa. 



LA "pa; XA'ma 
(county tru- 
ant officer) pa. 



LApa. 



LXC'ma. 

LC'pa. 

LBpb. 
LBma. 
LABB'ma. 



L (State inspec- 
tors of plumb- 
ing) C'pa. 

LA'ma. 

LA'pa; LAea. 



LA'pa. 
LBpa. 

LA'C'pa. 

LA'pa. 
LBpe; LA'pa. 



LABea. 



Lma. 



80042°— 15- 



10 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

A. ADVICE. 

All of the States that have empowered officials outside of the 
district to give advice have backed up this advisory authority with 
stronger prerogatives. In one State the advisory work is shared 
by the county superintendent; in one by the local medical inspector; 
in one by the county superintendent of health; in two by the State 
board of health; in six by the State education department, i. e. ; by the 
State superintendent or commissioner of education or by the State 
board of education. In Montana advice is given to rural districts 
only. In Vermont the State board of health advises with municipal 
officers regarding the construction, heating, ventilation, and sanitary 
arrangements of public buildings, construed as including public school 
buildings. In certain other States advice is given to districts of 
all classes. The advice, except in Vermont, West Virginia, and possi- 
bly Texas, consists in the preparation of plans for buildings and 
the loan of the plans to districts desiring them. In Maine, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin specifications are prepared and 
lent. In three of the States that prepare plans the State super- 
intendent may furnish the necessary details for large as well as small 
buildings, but in Maine and Wisconsin a four-room structure is the 
limit, while in North Dakota the superintendent has no authority to 
go beyond two rooms. The duty of giving advice is usually manda- 
tory with the officials upon whom it is conferred, but in Maine the 
law is evidently permissive, since the State superintendent sets forth 
no standards and in a recent letter speaks only of approval. In 
West Virginia the local medical inspector, " when requested by the 
board of education," shall assist in formulating rules of procedure on 
matters pertaining to the lighting, heating, ventilating, and sanitation 
of the school buildings. It is evident that the purpose of advice is 
the protection of smaller and poorer districts against their own igno- 
rance or the exploitation of persons from without. 

B. APPROVAL. 

Classes of officials utilized. — The power of approval of plans is a 
species of control more generally exercised and more potent in effects 
than the power of advice. Table 1 shows that the power of approval 
has been practically taken from the lay authorities in at least 30 
States. The function of advice is exercised in all cases directly 
under legal warrant, but in 3 out of 30 States the power of approval 
finds its authority specifically in the administrative ruling of the State 
board of health or of the State board of education. Approval, like 
advice, comes most frequently from the hands of education officials. 
In 21 out of 30 cases these officials are the sole authority in approval; 
in 1 case the health authority acts alone; in 1 case the State archi- 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 11 

tect; in still another a supervisor of plans in the building inspection 
department of the district police; in 5 cases health and education 
officials cooperate; and in 1 case, (Ohio), the health officials share 
their responsibility with several others. 

Degree of centralization. — So far as the health authorities are con- 
cerned, it is nearly always the State boards of health that have 
jurisdiction, local boards working under their direction. With the 
education officers the tendency toward centralization is not so 
marked. Of the 21 States where the education officers act alone, 
in 9 the State department of education is in full charge; in 7 the 
comity superintendent, county school commissioners, or county board 
of education approves. In the 5 others, State, county, town, and 
district officers are variously combined. In North Carolina the 
State superintendent has the power of initial approval, but before 
the building can be paid for it must be inspected and approved 
by the county superintendent. In South Carolina both the State 
and county boards of education must approve plans before aid can 
be received from the county schoolhouse fund. In Maine and Mon- 
tana the State superintendent and the State board of health cooperate 
under certain conditions. In Maine both must approve plans if 
other than those prepared by the State department are used. In 
Montana there is cooperation except in districts of the first class, i. e., 
those containing the larger cities. In these districts the board of 
health may act alone. In Texas county superintendents approve 
plans in common school districts and in independent districts having 
fewer than 150 scholastics, while local superintendents approve in 
others. In Louisiana three officers — the State superintendent, the 
parish superintendent, and the parish health officer — must approve all 
plans as to hygienic requirements. In Minnesota all matters relating 
to schoolhouse sanitation were transferred in 1913 from the State 
board of health to the State department of education, and definite 
powers lodged in the State superintendent of education. West Vir- 
ginia's new law (1915) creates a State department of health, with 
greatly enlarged powers including a public health council which will 
have direct oversight of State sanitation, etc. 

The Ohio State building code. — While Ohio's State building code of 
1911 is a most exhaustive piece of legislation, it is not retroactive in 
any of its features. It does not mention condemnation of existing 
buildings, and in this respect is below the standard of many other 
States. Further; it does not provide for legal approval or advice, but 
it does charge specific officials, State and local, with the enforcement 
of specific requirements of the code, e. g., the State fire marshal 
or municipal fire chiefs enforce all provisions relative to fire pre- 
vention; building inspectors or officials, State or local, have similar 
responsibility touching heat and ventilation, while health officials, 



12 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

State or local, look after sanitary plumbing. It will be noted that 
there is possible division in responsibility on the one hand or friction 
in authority on the other. Both those who have control of school 
buildings and those engaging or assisting in the construction, altera- 
tion, or repair of such buildings are under heavy penalties. 

Title 3, Part 2, of the Ohio Code deals with school buildings only, 
but so defines the term as to include libraries, museums, and art 
galleries; or, as the law states, "all buildings or structures containing 
one or more rooms used for the assembling of persons for the purpose 
of acquiring knowledge or for mental training." (Sec. 1.) School 
buildings are considered, however, under two classes or grades, grade 
A applying to "all rooms or buildings used for school purposes by 
pupils or students 18 years old or less." When Ohio requirements 
are subsequently referred to, grade A alone is meant. 

It is unnecessary to reproduce all the detail of the code itself in 
defining its standard requirements. 1 Many of the precautions are 
less hygienic than practical in their bearing, and are designed to guard 
against future trouble and expense. They are, moreover, often too 
technical to be understood except by an architect or mechanic. 

Territorial extent of power of approval. — The extent to which approval 
of plans may go territorially varies widely. In a majority of the 
States this approval applies to all districts, but several exceptions 
must be noted. In California incorporated cities with boards of edu- 
cation are autonomous in this particular; in Maryland the city of 
Baltimore governs this matter for itself; in New York the cities of 
the first and second classes are exempt from interference; in Pennsyl- 
vania cities of the first class. In Utah the exemption applies to cities 
over 5,000, but the State superintendent believes that the larger cities 
should be brought under the operation of the law. 2 In Oregon and 
Washington only districts of the third class, i. e., the most sparsely 
populated districts, need wait for approval. 

The premium placed hy State aid. — In Alabama, State aid toward 
building rural schools is conditioned on approval of plans by the 
State superintendent. In Minnesota all plans of school buildings 
must have the approval of the superintendent of education, and 
the statutes provide that consolidated schools may receive building 
aid up to one-fourth the cost of the building, but not exceeding 
$2,000. The annual aid received by all classes of schools is also 
made contingent upon attaining certain definite standards with 
respect to buildings, mechanical equipment, furniture and apparatus. 
In South Carolina all schools are eligible to aid on a building project 
up to $300 if the plans are approved. The scale of aid is $50 for 

1 Given in Bu. of Ed. Bull., 1913, No. 52, "Sanitary Schoolhouses. Legal requirements in Indiana and 
Ohio." Washington, Government Printing Office, price 5 cents. 
» Ninth Report of Supt. Pub. Instr., Utah (advance sheets), pp. 13-14. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 13 

each $100 raised by the district itself. High schools and rural 
schools continue to enjoy State aid if conducted in a comfortable 
and sanitary building. In Wisconsin and North Dakota a second 
and higher scale of requirement is prescribed for schools that expect 
State aid. This bounty in North Dakota may run as high as $600 
annually for "a suitable building, properly lighted, heated, and 
ventilated." The State superintendent, by virtue of a previous 
similar law, issued a pamphlet 1 setting forth standards to be 
maintained in passing upon requests for aid, but the new authority is 
the State board of education. Exercise of the function of approval 
is mandatory in every case except the four or five where aid is used 
as a lever. 

Approval of equipment — Approval applies to school buildings in 
all the 30 States and to equipment in 3. In Maryland every school- 
house must be built "and furnished" according to plans and drawings 
issued from the office of the county school commissioners. In 
Michigan, "(1) before any schoolhouse or addition can be erected by 
a district, plans and specifications of the same must be submitted 
for approval to the superintendent of public instruction; (2) the 
superintendent of public instruction shall have authority to inspect 
and condemn schoolhouses that are not in a safe and sanitary con- 
dition." In Washington the county superintendent's consent must 
be obtained before a third-class district can purchase any maps, 
charts, or apparatus. 

Approval of repairs and alterations. — So far as the buildings them- 
selves are concerned, new structures, and sometimes the alteration of 
old ones, come within the province of the law. In Montana an 
expense of over $500 in enlargement or repairs calls for the same for- 
malities as an entirely new building. In New York the same limit, 
$500, is placed on all districts outside of cities of the first and second 
classes, unless the approval of the commissioner of education is 
secured. The New Jersey law prescribes that "no public school or 
part thereof shall be erected until approval is given." Texas has 
met the difficulty and largely solved it through the power of the 
county superintendent to approve all vouchers drawn against the 
school fund of the county. 

Exceptions for certain types of buildings. — In several States excep- 
tions to the law concerning approval of plans are made for certain 
sorts of buildings. In Alabama the law affects only rural schools; 
in Kansas only those over one story high; in Texas only buildings 
costing over $400; in Utah only buildings costing over $1,000; in 
Wisconsin only buildings of four rooms or less. 

Weaknesses in the power of approval. — The column headed " Ap- 
proval" in Table 1 should be taken with some reservation. Besides 

1 State Aid to Consolidated, Graded, and Rural Schools. 



14 SCHOOLHOUSB SANITATION". 

weaknesses previously noted in the enactments and executive 
machinery of some of the 30 States, there is a question as to whether 
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Connecticut should be listed at all. 
The Pennsylvania statute provides that in certain districts no contract 
can be made for a building until "plans and specifications have been 
submitted to the State board of education, and any recommendations 
concerning the same by the State board of education have been laid 
before the board of school directors." The law appears to be advi- 
sory; but in justice it should be said that succeeding sections lay down 
some very definite standards. The Rhode Island statute directs that 
the State board of education shall approve standards of lighting, 
heating, ventilating, seating, and other sanitary arrangements in 
schools and communicate the same to school committees. This, too, 
seems to be merely advisory. The approving authority in Connec- 
ticut lies with the board of school visitors, a lay body. Very few of 
the States have established penalties for the violation of this sort of 
statute, though in nearly all it would probably be possible to reach 
offenders on some such general charge as malfeasance or misappro- 
priation. 

An indirect advantage. — Provisions for approval naturally lead to 
the extension of the function of advice. The authorities in whom 
power of approval is vested have in at least four cases discovered the 
economy of issuing model plans, specifications, or building codes for 
the guidance of architects and school boards. The Massachusetts 
inspector of buildings has prepared a sheet setting forth certain 
requirements in heating and ventilation of schools that must be 
complied with before plans can be approved; and the State board 
of education in New Jersey has adopted a fairly comprehensive 
building code. The State superintendent of North Carolina has 
issued pamphlets containing plans that will be accepted as satisfactory, 
and the State board of South Carolina has acted similarly. 

C. INSPECTION. 

Under the column headed "Inspection," in Table 1, have been 
grouped those arrangements for inspection of hygienic conditions where 
there is no delegated power to order correction. Since this duty in 
the 12 States represented has been placed almost entirely with health 
officials, another common function of health boards has been included 
under "inspection," viz, the right to frame sanitary codes. The 
power to frame and enforce sanitary codes has been placed in the 
last column of Table 1 . The duty of inspection is mandatory in the 
case of Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, West Virginia, and 
Wisconsin, and is in the hands of county or other local officers. In 
Massachusetts State health officers also may inspect schools. The 
power to frame sanitary codes is optional and is lodged with the 
State health authorities in Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 15 

In Mississippi the State board of health shall prepare a general 
sanitary code; in Vermont it shall issue to local boards of health its 
rules regarding lighting, heating, and ventilation of school buildings 
and cause schoolhouses to be inspected in these particulars. 

While these arrangements seem to be purely advisory in some States, 
in others public sentiment and the courts have given them consider- 
able significance. In several States the State board of health has 
become the force in the hygienic improvement of schools. Such is 
notably the case in Delaware, Louisiana, Indiana, and Vermont. This 
has not been accomplished, however, without a struggle. The judi- 
cial trend is well summed up by the supreme court of Indiana in the 
case of Blue v. Beach et al. (155 Ind., 121). The following is the 
language of the court: " When these boards adopt rules and by-laws, 
by virtue of legislative authority, such rules and by-laws * * * 
have the force and effect of a law of the legislature." 

Again : 

The powers conferred upon them by the legislature, in view of the great public inter- 
ests confided to them, have always received from the courts a liberal construction, 
and the right of the legislature to confer upon them the power to make reasonable 
rules, by-laws, and regulations is generally recognized by the authorities. 

D. INSPECTION AND CONDEMNATION (OR CORRECTION). 

Strong and weak types of laws. — As the power to approve stands 
above the power to advise concerning new buildings, so the right to 
condemn or correct stands above the right to inspect old buildings. 
A little over half the States of the country have taken some sort of 
action to compel remedial measures where they are needed. The 
laws looking to this end are of all degrees of completeness and strin- 
gency. An illustration of the weaker type is that of Wyoming. It 
says in effect that managers of all public places and institutions, 
schools specified among others, shall remedy the sanitary defects 
called to their attention. Presumably the health authorities are the 
ones to call attention to defects. There are no penalties; no enforc- 
ing authority. 1 

At the other extreme, perhaps, stands Wisconsin, handling the situ- 
ation through education officials. The law reads: "The inspector of 
rural schools, the inspector of State graded schools, and the inspector 
of high schools of the State * * * are hereby made inspectors of 
public school buildings," under the direction of the State superintend- 
ent. Any school official, member of board of health, or even voter of 
a school district may complain in writing to the State superintendent 

1 In Wyoming the State superintendent, "realizing the weakness of the laws regulating type of school 
building, has issued general circular letters to trustees and personal letters to all the school boards con- 
templating the erection of new buildings, offering help in drafting plans. The State department of 
education publishes illustrated bulletins for circulation, giving specific suggestions in regard to school 
buildings standard for rural and village schools of one or more rooms." (Letter from State board of 
health, May 15, 1915.) 



16 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 

of the insanitary condition of his local school or its actual imperilment 
of life or limb of attendants. Upon receipt of such complaint the 
State department shall assign one of the inspectors mentioned above to 
make a personal inspection. The inspector shall report to the officials 
in charge of said school, ordering the repairs that in his judgment are 
necessary, or stating that the building should be replaced by a new 
one. A copy of the report is also to be filed with the State superin- 
tendent, to whom an appeal may be made by the district officials con- 
cerned. Unless the order of the inspector is complied with in the 
specified time or is reversed by the State superintendent, the district in 
question shall forfeit its entire share of the general seven-tenths mill 
tax of the State for school purposes. Or the county superintendent 
may condemn any schoolhouse, the offending district to lose its share 
of the school fund income until conditions are made satisfactory. The 
State superintendent, however, may on appeal review and reverse the 
decision of the county superintendent. The county superintendent 
may also direct district boards to make any repairs or alterations 
which, in his opinion, are necessary to health, comfort, or progress of 
the pupils, provided that the cost of the same does not exceed $25. 
The Wisconsin law has resulted in the condemnation of a number of 
buildings. 

Combinations of authority. — There are few combinations of authority 
in the matter of inspection and condemnation. In Kentucky, Michigan, 
North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Virginia both health and educa- 
tion authorities have power, but they act independently, except in 
North Dakota, where a complicated system is in operation. A law 
of 1913 in that State reads that the county superintendent of health 
shall enforce cleanliness in the schools and inspect overcrowded, 
poorly ventilated, and insanitary schoolhouses. Another law of the 
same year directs that when the county superintendent reports to 
the county board of health that any schoolhouse or outbuilding is 
unsafe or insanitary, the county board of health shall at once investi- 
gate and direct the school board to take such action as may be neces- 
sary. Another law empowers the State superintendent by his deputy 
to require any improvement in the sanitary or ventilating arrange- 
ments of the school building unless it entails unreasonable expense. 
Aggrieved parties may, however, appeal within 30 days to the local 
health officers, whose decision shall be final. In 5 States education 
officers alone have power to act, and in 13 health officials are supreme. 

Degree of centralization. — Of the 5 States where education officers 
are in control of school health conditions, only 1, Wisconsin, gives 
the State education officers any voice ; in the others control is vested 
in the county superintendent or a similar officer. Among health 
authorities the State boards exercise the primary influence, and local 
representatives work under their direction. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 



17 



Sanitary codes. — Plenary power conferred upon State boards of 
health to make and enforce sanitary codes is no longer an uncommon 
thing. Thus the Minnesota State Board of Health may adopt and 
enforce regulations, which when approved by the attorney general 
and published have the force of law. Among the general subjects on 
which it may rule are "the construction and equipment in respect to 
sanitary conditions of schools * * * and other public institu- 
tions." Under this authorization numerous rules have been adopted 
regarding schools, and the State has found it necessary to enact 
but little specific legislation. In New York State district superin- 
tendents may condemn schoolhouses which in their opinion are 
" wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing." When an order is 
made, the district is required to vote an appropriation for a new 
building costing not less by 25 per cent than the amount specified in 
the order of the district superintendent. Such order is subject to 
review by the commissioner of education. The district superin- 
tendent may also order repairs and alterations to an amount not 
exceeding $200 in any one year. 

Results in Indiana. — From the side of tangible results the Indiana 
State Board of Health has made an enviable record, and has merited 
the vote of confidence that was expressed in making it the executive 
authority of the sanitary schoolhouse law of 1911. Gathering en- 
couragement from the pronouncement of the State supreme court in 
Blue v. Beach in 1900, 1 the board began a series of inspections which 
resulted in cases for condemnation coming before most of the quar- 
terly meetings. A study of annual reports gives the following data, 
the extensions representing additional allowance of time to districts 
where buildings had been condemned : 

Results ofivork of Indiana State Board of Health. 



Years. 


Condemna- 
tions. 


Extensions. 


1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 


5 
7 
4 

16 
31 
32 
33 
38 



1 
1 

3 
3 
8 
3 



Frequency of inspection. — The frequency of the inspections is usually 
left to the discretion of the inspectors. In Montana, however, a 
rule of the State board of health commands the local health officer 
to inspect every school in his district once "each school term" and 
to close it until any insanitary condition is abated. The county 
superintendent of health in North Carolina during the summer 



80042°— 15- 



1 See p. 15. 



18 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

months must make an examination of the sanitary conditions of every 
public school, and he may prohibit the resumption of work by with- 
holding his certificate of approval. 

Limitations of power to order corrections. — Power to order re- 
pairs is limited in several of the States. The Massachusetts inspec- 
tor of buildings and the State superintendent of North Dakota 
are forbidden to make an order entailing unreasonable expense. 
In New York the district superintendent, an official corresponding 
closely to the county superintendent in other sections, may con- 
demn entire buildings, but he can not direct repairs that will cost 
a school over $200 per year. His jurisdiction covers only districts 
of less than 5,000 inhabitants. In Vermont the State board of 
health is "limit by the law of 1915 to 20 per cent of the grand fist 
(1 per cent of valuation). The county superintendent in South 
Dakota is held to an expenditure of $50 per year, and the county 
superintendent in Wisconsin, as previously noted, may not expend 
more than $25. In Michigan the authority of the- county truant 
officer reaches only the inspection and correction of defects in out- 
buildings, and a rule of the State board of health applies merely to 
the school surroundings ; but the factory inspectors may condemn all 
school buildings that they consider liable to collapse or that endanger 
life. The latter statute is, of course, insufficient so far as ordinary 
sanitation is concerned. 

Penalties. — Penalties vary widely in their severity and nature. In 
Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin the district is made 
to suffer by losing its share in the apportionment of State or county 
school funds. In North Dakota a fine of $100 to $1,000 may be im- 
posed, and two other States place a lower figure. In Ohio the penalty 
is definitely personal; the official may be fined or imprisoned, or 
both. 

Comprehensiveness of the Kentucky statute. — The Kentucky law is 
noteworthy in that it provides that the county superintendent — 
shall condemn any schoolhousa which is dilapidated, unhealthy, or otherwise unfit 
to be occupied for the purpose of a common school, and any fence or other inclosure 
of a schoolhouse, when such inclosure is for any reason insufficient for the protection 
of the house or ground. He shall condemn all school furniture or apparatus, insuffi- 
cient in quantity, or not of the required character, order the same replaced with the 
proper furniture or apparatus — 

and notify the trustees of his decision. These large powers are 
backed by authority to suspend or remove any trustee for neglect of 
duty. 

III. THE SCHOOL SITE. 

Factors affecting the school site and its surroundings are set forth 
in Table 2. Provision for playgrounds is included also, together with 
facts that affect the' accessibility of the school to its pupils. Accessi- 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 



19 



bility is governed mainly by provision for transportation and by size 
of district. The former has been included only often enough to show 
the trend in opinion as to how far a child ought to walk; the latter 
has not been regarded, since many of the boards have the right to 
establish as many schools in the district as they deem proper. 

In general it may be said that all directions in this section are man- 
datory, except that a few States allow option with regard to trans- 
portation. Furthermore, some latitude is allowed district boards 
between the maximum and minimum requirements as to size of school 
site. Nearly all the provisions are State wide in their application, and 
there is a tendency to make the provisions of the act apply also to 
private and parochial schools. The term ' ' private " or " parochial " is 
found in the statutes of Florida, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South 
Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The Massachusetts 
law defines a schoolhouse as "any building or part thereof in which 
public or private instruction is afforded to more than 10 pupils at one 
time." Other States use the word "school" in a general way and do 
not specify its character. The names of 36 States appear in the table, 
8 in the regulation of miscellaneous matters with reference to school 
site, 18 with reference to the proximity of various nuisances, 18 with 
reference to availability of site through transportation or other de- 
vices, and at least 25 with reference to size of school site. 

Table 2. — The school site. 1 



States. 


References. 


Prox- 
imity of 
nuisances. 


Availa- 
bility of 
site. 


Size of 
site. 


Miscel- 
laneous. 


Alabama 


School Laws, p. 114 






X 




Arkansas.... 


Digest of Stat. (1905), sec. 5129; acts of 1905; 
acts of 1913. 


X 




x 




X 
X 






Connecticut 

Delaware 


Laws of 1907, ch. 200 (81 Conn., 276); acts of 
1911, ch. 173; Gen. Stat., sec. 4070, 4114; 
acts of 1913. 

SLxteenth Bien. Rep. State Bd. of Health 
(1908-1910), p. 72; School Laws, p. 26. 

School Laws, pp. 17, 49, 118 


X 

X 

X 
X 


X 

X 

X 

X 


X 




X 
X 






School Law, pp. 134, 150, 188, 201. U. S. 

Bu. of Ed. Bull., 1913, No. 52, p. 10; 

acts of 1913. 
Acts of 1913 


X 

x 






School Laws, pp. 61, 85, 103, 107, 130, 267, 312, 

323; acts of 1913, ch. 193. 
School Laws, pp. 66, 74, 84, 175 


X 


X 

X 
X 


X 

X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 


X 




Kentucky 

Louisiana 


School Laws, p. 56; Stat., 1909, sec. 4439; 
School Laws, 1914, p. 5. 

Const, and Rev. Laws, 1904, p. 397; amend- 
ments to same, 1904-1908, p. 146; School 
Laws, pp. 59, 126-127. 

Laws of 1909, ch. 148; School Laws, pp. 4-5... 


X 
X 


X 

x 


Maine 


X 




Maryland 


Laws of 1912, ch. 532; School Laws, 1914 




x 


Massachusetts 


Acts of 1906, ch. 104; Rev. Laws, 1902, ch. 
25, see. 47; acts of 1908, ch. 513; acts of 
1910, ch. 508: acts of 1913, ch. 655, sec. 15, 
40,41. 

Rev. Laws, 1905, sec. 1533; State Health 
Laws and Regulations, p. 52; acts of 1913, 
chs. 415, 507; Gen. Stat. 1913, sec. 2874: 
Rules of Dept. of Ed., 1915, Bull. 56. 


X 

X 






Minnesota 


X 


X 



1 So great a diversity exists in the provisions of this table that it has been deemed unwise to attempt to 
show by it anything as to the character of the regulation itself. " x " signifies some sort of regulation 
and the column headed "References " gives all sources of information for this section. 



20 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

Table 2. — The school s^e— Continued. 



States. 


Refereuces. 


Prox- 
imity of 
nuisances. 


Availa- 
bility of 
site. 


Size of 
site. 


Miscel- 
laneous. 


Mississippi 


Laws of 1910, ch. 124 




X 
X 

X 






Laws of 1911, Senate bill 403; Laws of 1913, 

Senate bill 241. 
Laws of 1913 












X 
X 






School Laws, pp. 87, 88 








School Code, p. 66; Rev. Laws, 1912, sec. 

6534; 119 Pacific, 770. 
School Laws, pp. 30, 34-35; Fogg v. Bd. of 

Ed. of Littleton (not yet in printed court 

reports); Laws of 1911, ch. 46. 


X 
X 

X 






New Hampshire. . 


X 


X 


X 








X 
X 
X 

X 






Laws of 1913, chs. 265, 267 




X 
X 




Ohio 


Laws of 1910; House bills 264, 482; School 

Laws of 1914; Senate bill 9. 
Law of Mar. 20, 1911 




X 












X 






Pennsylvania 


Law of Apr. 13, 1911; School Code, p. 39 


X 


X 




Laws Relating to Education, pp. 36, 78 

School Laws, sees. 122, 123; Laws of 1911, 

ch. 141; Bien. Rep. State Supt., 1910-12, 

p. 151. i 
Annotated Code, 1896, sees. 6795-96; acts of 

1913. 


X 
X 

X 






X 


X 






X 








X 




Pub. Stat., 1906, sec. 5122; Regulations 

State Bd. of Health. 
School Laws, pp. 42, 139; Laws of 1910, ch. 

264; Laws of 1914, ch. 166. 
Codes and Stat., sec. 4425, 4492; State v. 

Sup. Ct. Chelan Co. 
State v Bd. Ed , Clarksburg, Sc. Dist. 


X 


X 


X 
X 
X 


X 




X 


Washington 






X 






X 


Wisconsin 


Supplement to Stat., 1899-1906, sec. 1548; 
School Laws, pp. 173, 175, 256; Laws of 
1909, ch. 318; acts of 1913. 


X 


X 


X 


X 



Proximity of nuisances. — The desire to protect schools against 
nuisances in the neighborhood has most often expressed itself in 
laws removing liquor-selling to a distance. The creation of a "dry" 
zone around schools has become linked with a consideration of other 
nuisances in only two States. In Iowa no bills, posters, or other 
advertising matter of liquor and tobacco shall be distributed, posted, 
or circulated within 400 feet of premises used for school purposes. 
In Louisiana many special laws have been passed removing gambling 
and liquor-selling from 3 to 8 miles from schools, but the schools 
affected are chiefly high schools and higher institutions. 

The breadth of the dry zone depends principally upon whether 
urban or rural territory is involved. Three States — Minnesota, 
Tennessee, and Florida — deal with this matter only outside incor- 
porated towns and cities. Minnesota fixes a zone of only 1,500 feet, but 
Tennessee practically wipes out the traffic in all except very sparsely 
settled districts by giving to all schools a dry zone of 4 miles radius. 1 
Florida has the same provision as Tennessee, but largely nullifies 
it by a remarkable list of exceptions — hotels of over 25 rooms selling 
to guests only; incorporated social clubs selling to members only; 
places retailing liquors within 500 feet of incorporated towns; and 
saloons in towns of over 200 inhabitants where there is no other saloon 

i Tennessee has since passed a State-wide prohibition law. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 21 

within 50 miles. Arkansas gives the right to the majority of adult 
inhabitants residing within 3 miles of any school to secure from the 
county court, by petition, a dry-zone decree covering their territory. 
The legislature, however, has supplemented local option by passing 
acts creating dry zones of 3 to 6 miles radius around nine different 
schools in the State. 

Nine other States have set limits upon the proximity of saloons 
to schools, but since the law applies to city as well as country, the 
distances set are much less. The distance is 200 feet in Connecticut, 
New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont; 300 feet 
in Oregon 1 and Wisconsin, and formerly in Utah; 2 400 feet in Massa- 
chusetts. South Dakota prohibits the sale of intoxicating liquor in 
the same block with any school or in any block adjacent to it. 

Exceptions to the operation of these statutes are rather frequent 
and apply chiefly to hotels and renewals of license. In Connecticut 
the renewals are, however, subject to the discretion of the county 
commissioners. As a result of this law the supreme court of the 
State was called upon in October, 1008, to pass on the appeal of 
John Schusler from the decision of the county commissioners of 
Hartford County in refusing to renew a license for a location at 
which he had been retailing liquor for the past 10 years. The refusal 
of the commissioners was based upon the fact that a parochial 
school had been opened about a year previous on a site only 75 feet 
from the appellant's place of business. That the said commissioners 
had granted a renewal in another case within 200 feet of a school 
was held not to affect the present case. The following dictum of 
the court seems especially important: "It was of no legal conse- 
quence that the site for the school was bought years after the estab- 
lishment of the appellant's saloon, in close proximity to it, and 
after his becoming the owner of the saloon property." 

In New Hampshire hotels and drug stores occupied as such on 
January 1, prior to the passage of the "dry-zone" law, are not 
affected. New York exempts from the statute hotels and saloons 
established prior to March 23, 1896, or established prior to the occu- 
pation of any premises within 200 feet for church or school pur- 
poses. Rhode Island exempts taverns; Vermont, drug stores and 
inns. In Wisconsin the use of retail liquor licenses is prohibited 
except in buildings where such a license was in effect on June 30, 
1905. Even then, after two and a half years had passed from the 
time the law went into effect, a remonstrance signed by a majority 
of the parents or guardians of children enrolled in any public or 
parochial school was sufficient to prevent any license from being 
issued to permit business within 300 feet of said school. This 

1 Oregon has since passed a prohibition law, and the entire State will be dry after Jan. 1, 1917. 
* Repealed by ch. 106, Laws of 1911. 



22 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

remonstrance can not affect drug stores, hotels, and restaurants 
established and maintained as such prior to February 1, 1905. 

Turning from what is perhaps dominantly moral hygiene, there is 
noted less solicitude over the purely physical hygiene of the school 
site. A regulation of the Delaware State Board of Health forbids 
that any stable, pigpen, or other building liable to become a nuisance 
be placed within 200 feet of any schoolhouse or within 100 feet of 
the school yard. The Indiana law says there must be no steam 
railroads, livery stables, barns used for breeding purposes, noisy 
industries, or unhealthful conditions within 500 feet of schools; 1 the 
Rhode Island law states that no swine shall be kept or any other 
nuisance permitted within 100 feet of any schoolhouse or of any 
fence inclosing the yard of a schoolhouse; the Vermont Board of 
Health protects schoolhouses, if in a village, from noises and un- 
savory odors. The Minnesota Department of Education directs that 
no part of a school site shall be within 500 feet of steam railroads 
or manufacturing plants which may be sources of noise or smoke, 
swampy places, livery stables or other buildings which m&y "be 
sources of unhealthful conditions. The New Hampshire statute 
runs: 

If any person shall use a building or place near a dwelling house or schoolhouse 
* * * for a slaughterhouse, a place of deposit of green pelts or skins, or for trying 
tallow, currying leather, or carrying on any other business that is offensive to the 
public, without the written permission of the health officers of the town, he shall 
forfeit $10 for each month such building or place shall be so used. 

In Wisconsin no lockup or place of temporary confinement for 
insane persons or other persons under arrest shall be erected within 
300 feet of a building used regularly or principally for school purposes. 
Nevada prohibits all resorts maintained for the purpose of prostitu- 
tion within 800 yards of a school, on pain of a fine of $25 to $300 or 
imprisonment for 5 to 60 days, or both. The constitutionality of 
this law was attacked on several grounds in the case ex parte Ah Pah, 
but the supreme court of the State on December 30, 1911, upheld 
the enactment, with one qualification: That the 800-yard limit fixed 
by the school law should be reduced to 400 yards after January 1, 
1912, by virtue of a clause in the crimes and punishments act. 

Accessibility of school site. — The distance that a child may be ex- 
pected to walk to school is different in different States. Most 
of the laws governing transportation have come with consolida- 
tion, but so many of these laws are permissive that differences in 
school sentiment have shown themselves plainly through this avenue. 
Transporting pupils to high schools is optional with Maine districts. 

1 The State board of health has defined "unhealthful conditions" specifically by demanding a zone of 500 
feet radius about the school site to be free from "swampy ground, body of stagnant water, cemetery, 
slaughterhouse, fertilizer-reduction plant, any business or manufacturing establishment which engenders 
noxious odors or vapors or that pollutes the surrounding atmosphere by smoke or dust." 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 23 

Any consolidated district in Mississippi, any special or village dis- 
tricts in Ohio, may arrange for transportation. Any district in New 
Hampshire may purchase vehicles for the purpose. Where the law 
is mandatory, it is often too indefinite. For instance, every Con- 
necticut town in which a school has been discontinued, or in which a 
consolidation of districts has occurred, "shall furnish, whenever 
necessary, by transportation or otherwise, school accommodations 
so that every child over 7 and under 16 years of age can attend school." 
In Iowa, outside of consolidated districts, transportation is optional 
with the district for pupils living "at an unreasonable distance." 
The decisions of State Superintendents Riggs and Deyoe in the cases 
of Arnold et al. v. School Township of Richland, and Paine v. School 
Township of Amsterdam, have defined 1^ miles as the approximate 
limit of a reasonable distance. Consolidated districts in Colorado 
may transport pupils who live over 1 mile from school, and in Mis- 
souri any district may cany pupils who have over one-half mile to go. 
In Ohio no district is under obligation to haul a pupil living less than 

1 mile from school. In New York the matter of transportation is 
within the discretionary control of the commissioner of education in 
the exercise of his appellate jurisdiction. 

A half dozen of the States, however, have gone on record in a 
definite manner and with sufficient uniformity to suggest a conclusion. 
In consolidated districts in Kansas and Minnesota transportation is 
compulsory for children 2 miles from school. Missouri compels trans- 
portation of all children over 2 J miles from school in a consolidated dis- 
trict. Independent consolidated districts or central schools of town- 
ships in Iowa must transport every child living outside a city, town, or 
village. Parents or guardians may be compelled to carry children 2 
miles to the line of school transportation and receive a reasonable com- 
pensation therefor. Where the township system has been adopted in 
South Dakota no child may be allowed to walk over 2\ miles, but the 
transportation must be furnished by the guardian at an amount 
graduated from 10 cents to 45 cents per day, according to cfistance 
traveled. Indiana has made a discrimination on the basis of the age 
of the pupil. When a school is discontinued, township trustees must 
arrange comfortable and safe transportation for all pupils living over 

2 miles from school, but those between 6 and 12 years of age must 
be carried when they live over 1 mile away. An interesting decision 
recently came from the supreme court of New Hampshire in the case 
of Fogg v. Board of Education of Littleton, wherein it was decided 
that "it is unreasonable to expect or require" a boy 9 years of age 
to walk over 4 miles to school. „ The action of the board in refusing 
to maintain a conveyance solely for the benefit of this boy was 
declared to be "unauthorized and illegal." 1 

1 A summary of the laws on consolidation of schools is given in B all. of 1 he Bureau of Educ, 1914, No. 30. 



24 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 

The provision of Montana is that the site shall be "accessible"; 
Vermont says that it shall be as near the center of population as 
possible. The attitude of Florida is that schools shall not be closer 
to each other than 3 miles "unless for some local reason or necessity " — 
a phrase defined in the regulations of the State board of education to 
mean "unless made necessary by local geographical features." On 
the other hand Kentucky declares that no point on the boundary of 
a graded common-school district shall be over 2-| miles from the site 
of the proposed building. In Pennsylvania no pupil of an abandoned 
school shall be compelled to walk over 1£ miles. This implies 
liability of the district for transportation. In North Bakota the 
matter is settled by waiving the compulsory attendance require- 
ment if it involves making a child walk over 2-| miles to school. 

The distance of a child from school seems generally to be calcu- 
lated by way of the nearest public highway. Of course it is taken 
for granted in such cases that the school property abuts on an open 
road; but this has not always been true. South Dakota has found 
it necessary to pass a law demanding that schools be situated upon 
a regularly laid out highway or upon a section line. In the latter 
case the presumption is that a road will soon be opened leading to 
the school. The Indiana board of health holds that "all school- 
house sites shall be convenient of approach, either from a public road 
or street." Under the Wisconsin law the supervisors may be com- 
pelled to lay a highway to the schoolhouse ; any trouble in the future 
has been guarded against by requiring that every schoolhouse site — 

obtained by purchase or grant shall be located and established abutting on a public 
highway or street, and no schoolhouse shall hereafter be erected on any site unless at 
the time of erection of such the site shall abut on a public highway or street. 

Size of the school site. — The size of the school site is subject to two 
general classes of limitations, maxima and minima. Some States 
have not invested their school boards with the power of eminent 
domain. Most have hedged it about with careful restrictions; a few 
have been very generous in bestowing it. For example, Connecticut 
boards may condemn as much land as is needed ; Louisiana boards 
may condemn ' 'space sufficiently extensive to answer the purpose of 
a schoolhouse and ground" ; in Pennsylvania "no new school building 
shall hereafter be erected without a proper playground being provided 
therefor." The only trouble with these laws is that local boards are 
inclined to be too easily satisfied. 

That maxima have been established so much oftener than minima 
possibly reflects a fear that through condemnation a citizen may be 
made to suffer too much in the interest of the State. In at least three 
States the maximum size of site is less in case of condemnation than 
otherwise it would be. Thus, in Nebraska a district may purchase 4 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 25 

acres of the school lands of the State for a site, but it can not condemn 
over 1 acre. In Washington the corresponding figures are 10 and 5 
acres, respectively. In Wisconsin "no schoolhouse site shall contain 
more than 4 acres unless with the consent of the owner of the land 
taken therefor." The absolute maxima in certain other States, 
with or without the exercise of eminent domain, is as follows : Dela- 
ware, one-half acre; Kentucky and New Hampshire, 1 acre; Kan- 
sas, 1J acres; Massachusetts and South Dakota, 2 acres; 1 Maine, 3 
acres; Maryland and North Dakota, 5 acres. 

Sliding scales exist in some States. In North Carolina only 2 
acres may be condemned to establish a new site, but if resorted to 
in order to add to an existing site the total site shall not ultimately 
exceed 3 acres. In Iowa 1 acre is the maximum except in city, 
town, or village, where one block may be used, and except in certain 
consolidated districts and townships that possess not more than two 
sites, where it may run to 4 acres, or even more under certain condi- 
tions. This last larger site must be on a public road and not within 
30 rods of a residence, if the owner objects. In Virginia any school 
board may condemn not to exceed 1 acre in a town, or 5 elsewhere, 
"provided that no dwelling, yard, garden, or orchard shall be invaded, 
nor in an unincorporated town any space within 100 feet of a dwelling, 
nor hi the country any space within 400 yards of a mansion house." 
Oklahoma boards can not condemn, but may purchase as high as 4 
acres of the public-school lands of the State. In Illinois no tract 
of land condemned outside an incorporated city or village shall be 
within 40 rods of the dwelling of the owner of the land without his 
consent. 

The minima for the different States run as follows: Delaware and 
Florida (outside villages and cities), one-half acre; Indiana, 1 acre; 
Alabama (for State aid on building), North Dakota, and South Dakota, 

2 acres. In Montana rural schools shall have sites of not less than 1 
acre ; all others, not less than half an average city block. In Nebraska 
and Washington minima apply only to the purchase of State school 
lands for sites. In Nebraska 1 acre is the minimum; in Washington, 

3 acres. In New York the commissioner of education may control 
the suitability of a site as to size by the exercise of his appellate 
jurisdiction. One decision is of interest, that of the Supreme Court 
of Washington, ruling that the condemnation of land adjacent to a 
school building for an athletic and play ground is a taking for ' • public 
use," and hence within the statutes of the State providing for the 
exercise of eminent domain. In Ohio a law provides State aid for 
elementary rural schools of three classes, the amount varying from 

1 In South Dakota schools giving courses in agriculture may purchase 10 acres for site and demonstra- 
tion purposes. 

80042°— 15 1 



26 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

$25 to $100 per annum. One of several conditions for each class of 
schools is the size of site, which ranges from 1 to 3 acres for organized 
play, school garden, and agriculture. 

Public playgrounds. — Some of the States are partially discharging 
their responsibility through other bodies than school boards. In 
Indiana the board of health and charities in cities of the first class 
may establish, maintain, and equip public playgrounds and public 
baths, and may exercise the right of eminent domain; but all school 
playgrounds in the State must furnish 30 square feet for each pupil 
and be equipped with some apparatus. In New York school dis- 
tricts may acquire lands for public playgrounds and recreational 
purposes by vote of a district meetiog, and may levy a tax and issue 
bonds therefor. Massachusetts has thrown this matter by permissive 
legislation into the hands of towns and cities. Virginia cities with 
over 10,000 population may, as municipalities, acquire a playground 
for each race. Many similar laws indicate that most of our leading 
cities will soon meet the playground problem aside from the schools. 
In -Minnesota the State Department of Education has made a rule 
that no elementary school shall be built upon a plot of ground that 
affords less than fifty square feet of playground per pupil. One hun- 
dred square feet per pupil will be required when conditions make 
it possible to secure this amount of land. 

Miscellaneous regulations. — The barbed-wire fence is illegal in Con- 
necticut and New Hampshire on or around a school site, and even 
within 10 feet of the site in Iowa. Drainage also is subject to regu- 
lation. Good drainage is required in Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, and 
Vermont. The Minnesota State Department of Education directs 
that all schools be situated "on high ground affording natural drain- 
age;" made land or land impregnated with organic matter must not 
be selected. In New York sites not properly drained or insanitary 
because of proximity to swamps and lowlands or other unhealthful 
conditions may be discepted by the commissioner of education and 
the district be directed to acquire another site. The Texas and 
Louisiana State boards of health require that all schools be supplied 
with a sufficient number of garbage cans, kept covered and emptied 
daily. The State Board of Health of Vermont will not approve a 
site for a rural school unless it is protected from violent winds. The 
rules of the Minnesota Department of Education contain a sugges- 
tion well worthy of consideration. It reads: "To secure the best 
use of a site, it is recommended that not more than twenty per cent 
of the entire site should be used for the building, and that the build- 
ing be so located that the entire frontage be at least twenty per cent 
of the site." 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 27 

IV. THE WATER SUPPLY. 

The common cup. — The most interesting point connected with safe- 
guarding the water supply of schools is the spread in the last five 
years of the revolt against the common drinking cup. 1 For a num- 
ber of years boards of health waged a campaign in this direction, 
but it was not until March, 1909, that any State took official action. 
Kansas was the pioneer, but other States followed rapidly, so that 
now over half of the entire number have either a law or a regulation 
regarding drinking cups. Schools may not be provided with com- 
mon drinking cups without transgressing the law in Illinois, Ken- 
tucky, Maryland, Nebraska, North Dakota, 2 West Virginia, 3 and 
Wisconsin. 3 The State health authorities have forbidden the public 
drinking cup in Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massa- 
chusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, 4 Mississippi, Montana, 5 New Hamp- 
shire, New Jersey, Ohio, 6 Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, 7 South 
Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. 8 In New 
York the common drinking cup in "public places or public institu- 
tions" is prohibited by regulation 3, Chapter VII, of the sanitary 
code. Jealous supervision of the powers of the State board of health 
has resulted in statutes delegating to the board the power to promul- 
gate an order against common cups in Connecticut, Massachusetts, 
New Hampshire, and New Jersey. Colorado has a law that should 
practically put it in one of the above lists, the statute forbidding 
common cups unless sterilized after each use. 

Several provisions that do not abolish the common cup regulate or 
limit its use. If public drinking cups are used in Texas, they, 
together with the water buckets or coolers, shall be scoured and 
sunned daily, or treated with a 2 per cent formaldehyde solution. 9 
The Ohio law draws the line against tin cups or tumblers. 10 The 
Indiana 11 and Louisiana State boards of health require that sani- 
tary fountains shall be installed in towns and cities where there is a 
public water supply; the same is required of Ohio schools hereafter 
constructed, without any specification as to water supply. 

The common pail. — If, however, children were at liberty to dip 
their individual cups into the common pail, danger still would lurk 
in the water supply. Hence some attention has been given to the 

I For full text of most laws and regulations in this field up to July 1, 1912, see Common Drinking Cups and 
Roller Towels, Pub. Health Bull. No. 57, issued by U. S. Pub. Health Service. 

" Laws of 1913, ch. 228. 

3 Laws of 1913. 

« Minnesota State Health Laws and Regulations, May 1, 1912, p. 54. Ch. 61, acts 1913. 

5 Bull. Dept. Pub. Health, Montana, vol. 6, No. 1. 

6 Rule adopted Jan. 22, 1913. 
» Rule adopted Jan. 3, 1913. 

8 Rules of State Bd. of health, 1912, p. 19. 
s School laws of Texas, p. 92. Rule State Bd. of health. 
10 State Building Code, Part 2, title 3, sec. 22. 

II Bull. 1913, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., p. 15. 



28 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

receptacle for the temporary supply. The Delaware State Board of 
Health does not permit any open bucket or vessel to be used for 
storing water in any school. 1 Open receptacles are barred by the 
State health officers in Idaho, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. 2 Minne- 
sota has decreed against the common pail, and the Indiana law calls 
for covered tanks. In Vermont faucets must be attached to the 
water tanks. 3 If running water can not be had, the Virginia Board 
of Health allows a dipper to be used only for dipping water from the 
tank or cooler; the cup or glass used for drinking shall not be 
dipped into the water. The contents of the receptacle are to be 
renewed every morning, the receptacle, dipper, and drinking cup 
washed daily and scalded with boiling watei once a week. 4 In 
Louisiana the containers must be scoured daily. 

Source of supply, etc. — The source of the water and the disposition 
of waste are sometimes prescribed. In Indiana the supply of all 
schoolhouses must come from driven wells, or other sources approved 
by the health authorities. 5 Water from dug wells can not be used 
in Minnesota, but the schools must rely on the public supply, tubular 
or driven wells. Idaho, Indiana, and Oklahoma require that troughs 
or drains remove waste to a safe distance and that no pools or mud- 
holes be left near wells. 

The Ohio State building code is very specific. A gutter or drain 
of concrete or sewer pipe must be constructed to carry all waste 
water to a distance of 20 feet before discharging it. Pumps and 
hydrants shall be placed in the center of a concrete or cement plat- 
form at least 6 feet in diameter. This platform must be 6 inches 
above the natural grade line and then graded up to within 2 inches of 
the top in such a manner as to run all surface water away. Ohio 
is alone in its effort to standardize the amount of accommodations 
furnished. Where sewerage system and water supply are available, 
there shall be one sink and one drinking fountain to every 6,000 
square feet of floor area or fraction thereof. Similar equipment 
will be required in the basement for each 350 or fewer pupils of 
each sex. 



V. TOILETS. 



Location of outbuildings. — Twelve States have taken some action to 
regulate the location of outbuildings for toilet purposes. Delaware, 6 
Idaho, 7 Indiana, 8 Louisiana, 9 and Montana 10 require that outdoor 

1 16th Bien. Rep. (1908-1910), p. 72. 6 School Law, p. 135. 

2 2d Bien. Rep. ofState Pub. Health Dept.,| 6 16th Bien. Rep., State Bd. of health (1908-1910), p. 72. 
p. 247. 7 Reg. State Bd. of health. 

3 Reg. of State Bd. of health, issued May 1, 8 Bull., 1913, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., p. 15. 
1911. 9 Public School Laws (1912), p. 127. 

4 School Laws, pp. 45-46. I0 Reg. 26 of State Bd. of health. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 29 

toilets shall be situated not less than 100 feet from the well or cistern. 
Idaho further provides that no surface drainage from a water-closet 
shall be permitted to reach any well or cistern; Montana holds up the 
approval of plans in towns of over 1,000 unless the distance limit set 
above is observed. In the rural districts of Vermont toilets need be 
only 20 feet from the building. 1 In three States connection with the 
sewer system is required: In Louisiana, if the closets are within 
1,000 feet of the sewer; in Texas, if the schoolhouse is within 500 feet 
of the sewer; 3 in Virginia, if water and sewerage are available. 3 
Mississippi requires that every building used for public school pur- 
poses shall be provided with two privies maintained in accordance 
with the plans and specifications of the State board of health. One 
of these shall be so located as to be adapted for use of the girls and 
the other for the boys. Kentucky requires that all schools and other 
"places of public resort" not already connected with an approved 
system of sewerage shall construct privies proportioned in size and 
number to the persons and sex of those likely to use them. These 
privies are to be located " below the level, or draining away from, or 
as remote as possible from the well or spring," and are to be modeled 
after the Kentucky sanitary privy or some other plan approved by 
the State board of health. 4 All these requirements have been estab- 
lished by State boards of health, but in two States, Nebraska and 
Ohio, the legislatures have acted. In Nebraska the toilets must be 
placed on that portion of the site farthest from the main entrance 
to the building. 5 

Ohio, on this point as on numerous others, has gone into the greatest 
detail. All vaults existing on premises accessible to a sewer shall be 
cleaned to the bottom and filled with ashes or earth, and no such 
vaults shall hereafter be constructed where a sewerage system is 
available. No vault or septic tank shall be placed within 2 feet of 
any lot line, or 50 feet of any school building, or source of water supply 
for drinking or cooking purposes. 6 Cesspools may be constructed 
only with the approval of the local or State board of health and in 
case no sewerage system is available. No tight cesspools can be 
placed within 2 feet of any lot line, 20 feet of any building, or 30 
feet of any source of water used for drinking purposes; no leaching 
cesspool can be placed within 100 feet of any dwelling or tight cistern, 
or within 300 feet of the source of any water supply. 7 

Standard equipment for outdoor toilets. — Standardization of the 
equipment of outdoor closets has begun in a number of the States. 

1 Rule of State Bd. of health. 

2 School Laws, p. 93. 

3 Ibid., p. 46. 

< See bulletin of the State board of health of Kentucky, Vol. Ill, July, 1914. 

5 Ibid., p. 53. 

6 State building code, part 4, title 18. 
' Ibid., title 16. 



30 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

In Ohio no septic tank or filtration bed can be constructed until 
the site has been inspected, and the plans and specifications have 
been approved by the State board of health; and no such tank or 
bed can be used for the designed purpose until its construction and 
equipment have been approved by the same body. 1 Absolute central 
control and the ability to follow up plans and specifications into exe- 
cution makes an admirable arrangement; it disposes of the particular 
defect that was found to exist in the law creating the schoolhouse 
commission of Utah. 2 

Waterproof receptacles are contemplated by the requirements in 
several States. The State boards of health in Idaho, Montana, and 
Vermont demand that boxes for outdoor closets be water-tight, 
but Montana waives this regulation if the vault is dug in soil ap- 
proved by the health officer. Virginia compels dry closets to be 
maintained in a clean and wholesome condition as standardized by 
the State board of health. Louisiana requires for closets not con- 
nected with a sewer system, a Stiles sanitary closet, cesspool, or 
septic tank. New Jersey and Ohio, however, are in advance of most 
of the others in this regard. The State Board of Education of New 
Jersey requires that the vaults shall not extend beneath the floor of the 
closet, and that they shall be built of concrete or brick laid in cement 
mortar. 3 Ohio's State building code contains similar provisions, 
but goes further in stating that such a part of the vault as extends 
beyond the walls of the outbuilding shall be tightly covered. 4 More- 
over, the vaults shall be given a half-inch coat of Portland-cement 
mortar inside and outside, and finally a cement wash, similar to the 
final step in constructing an ordinary water-tight cistern. The 
bottom of the vault must be from 6 to 8 inches thick. These tight 
walls shall extend 1 foot above the ground to prevent surface dram- 
age. The material used for urinals is touched upon in four States. 
The Indiana law stipulates that all conduits to urinals shall be of 
galvanized iron, vitrified dram pipe, or other impervious material 
draining into a sewer or other place approved by health authorities; 5 
the Ohio law states that all receptacles used for water-closets or urinals, 
and all troughs or gutters employed for any such purpose, shall be of 
certain waterproof, noncorrosive materials; while in New York the 
same end is secured for new buildings through the decision of the 
commissioner of education to hold up all plans that do not specify 
nonabsorbent, noncorrosive materials in the construction of urinals. 7 
In New Jersey the latrines must be of metal if plans are to be approved 
by the State board of education. 

i Ibid., title 17. & School Law, p. 136. 

2 See p. 6, ante. B State Building Code, part 4, title 11. 

s State Building Code. 7 Circular letter of Aug. 1, 1912. 
" i Part 4, title 18. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 31 

Miscellaneous provisions. — Several other provisions applying to 
outdoor toilets are scarcely capable of classification. In Idaho and 
Montana the contents of the box must be sprinkled daily with dry 
earth or lime during the school term and the receptacle emptied when 
two-thirds full. In Vermont earth closets must be provided with a 
box of road dust, sawdust, or ashes, and be screened against flies. 
These regulations are by authority of the State boards of health. 
But in Utah the law itself specifies the dry-earth system in the 
care of vaults. The vaults are to be cleaned monthly during the 
school year and oftencr if the local health officer thinks necessary. 1 
The statutes of Pennsylvania compel vaults to be cleaned or properly 
disinfected within 30 days after the close of each school year; the 
outbuilding itself is to be scrubbed, whitewashed on the interior, 
and the vaults covered with fresh dirt or dry-slacked lime, within 10 
days of the opening of each school year. 2 The only other State to 
mention the scrubbing of the outbuildings is Louisiana, which speci- 
fies that this shall be done at intervals of a week. A rule of the Dela- 
ware State Board of Health calls for vaults at least 3 feet deep, and 
will not allow them to be filled nearer than within 1 foot of the 
surface of the ground. Wisconsin and Minnesota state that the 
boys' outhouse shall be provided with suitable urinals. 3 Both these 
States are attempting to improve toilet accommodations in rural 
schools by making this a point to be considered in the granting of 
State aid. Indeed, if the electors in a Wisconsin district fail to allow 
the necessary funds for maintaining a proper condition of the toilets, 
the town clerk at the request of the school board shall arbitrarily 
add such amount to the district tax budget. 

In Indiana the board of health has brought together several of the 
more valuable miscellaneous regulations of other States, modifying 
the form in a few cases. Both the vault receptacle and the floor of 
the closet must be of cement. 4 Dry loamy earth, wood ashes, sifted 
coal ashes, or slaked lime must be thrown into the vault daily during 
the school tei m, and the contents of the vault removed twice per year. 
The vault itself must be screened against flies. An alternative to 
such outdoor sanitary closet is the indoor crematory closet, specifica- 
tions for which are given in still greater detail. 

Indoor closets. — For indoor closets very few regulations exist. 
Three States only have taken up accessibility of accommodations. 
The Ohio State building code, the rules of the Indiana State Board of 
Health, and a circular letter of the commissioner of education of New 
York, each establishes a standard of one closet for every 15 females 

i School Law, p. 32. 
s Purdon's Digest, p. 698. 

3 Laws of Wis. Relating to Com. Schools, pp. 93-94; Bull. No. 40, Mian. dept. pub. inst., "State Aid,'' 
p. 5. 
* Bull., 1813, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., pp. 16-17. 



32 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

or every 25 males, and one urinal for every 15 males. The Ohio law 
also demands that if buildings are over three stories, toilets be placed 
on each story. In Ohio all forms of fixtures that do not permit the 
whole surface to be flushed are prohibited. The Minnesota Board 
of Health insists that water for washing the hands be provided in 
indoor toilets. 1 The State Board of Education of New Jersey will 
not approve plans unless, where running water can be secured, 
porcelain-bowl closets, and slate, corrugated glass, or porcelain urinals, 
properly ventilated, are furnished. The floors within 3 feet of closets 
and urinals are to be of nonabsorbent, waterproof material, and 
suitable wash bowls must be provided in each toilet room. In Texas 
all urinals and closets must be wiped with an approved disinfectant 
once a week. 2 Nebraska alone safeguards against disease by special 
disinfection; after any contagious disease is discovered in a school, 
disinfection of indoor closets is to be accomplished by the use of a 
5 per cent solution of carbolic acid or 3 per cent solution of liquor 
formaldehyde, while under the same circumstances outdoor vaults 
are to be treated by throwing into them milk of lime. 3 In Vermont 
the plumbing regulations of the State board of health must be 
satisfied. 

Light and ventilation of toilets. — Nine of the States have more or less 
definite rules covering ventilation and light; two of them by stat- 
ute, two by State education authorities, four by State boards of 
health, and one by factory inspector. Minnesota and North Dakota 
demand direct air and light from the outside for all classes of 
toilets. 4 Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, and New Jersey require that 
toilets be well lighted and equipped with means of ventilation inde- 
pendent of the system that ventilates the remainder of the build- 
ing. New York calls for independent ventilation of toilet rooms, 
and the Vermont Board of Health and the Massachusetts inspector 
of buildings 5 specify that closets and fixtures must be so located and 
arranged that no odors can reach any occupied rooms. In Minne- 
sota the vent in the toilet must be placed at or near the ceiling, 
while in New Jersey a wooden or metal flue 8 inches square must 
run from the floor through the roof. Massachusetts requires that 
local vents for each water closet and for each 1' 4" in length of slab 
urinals shall be not less than 1 1 square inches, and shall be connected 
with a duct of combined area, having a rise of 1" to each 1' 0" run 
to a vent duct provided with mechanical or other approved means 
for maintaining proper circulation. Ohio with characteristic exact- 
ness requires that the seats shall be provided with tight-fitting 

1 State Health Laws and Regulations, May 1, 1912, p. 54. 

2 Rule of State board of health, School Laws, p. 92. 

3 Rule of State board of health, School Laws, p. 120. 

* Minn. State Health Laws and Regs., May 1, 1912, p. 54; N. Dak. Gen. School Laws, p. 104. 

6 See " Regulations relating to the erection, alteration, and inspection of schoolhouses." Form B, 1914. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 33 

covers and a vent pipe shall extend 3 feet through the roof, such 
pipe to be at least 6 inches square for every square yard or part 
thereof of vault surface. 

Indiana's State board of health has recently brought together a 
number of points connected with indoor closets, and has gone into 
them in detail. One of them is special ventilation; another is the 
prevention of the use of corrosive or absorbent materials in connection 
with fixtures; another is the provision of lids for seats, and individual 
stalls from 16 to 20 inches wide for urinals; another is a requirement 
that urinals be flushed as often as every 15 minutes. 

The common towel. — Prohibition of the common towel bids fair to 
spread over the country with a rapidity equal to the prohibition of 
the common drinking cup. As in the fight against the common cup, 
Kansas again led the way with a resolution of the board of health, 
effective September 1, 1911. 1 Seven other States now have regulations 
abolishing the common towel from schools: Wisconsin, by statute; 2 
Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, 3 Ohio, 4 and Pennsylvania, 5 by authority 
of the State health officers; and Massachusetts by the State health 
authority exercised under a specific permissive act of the legislature. 6 
The usual method is to abolish the towel from "public places," but 
sometimes "schools" are particularized. 



VI. PPtOTECTION AGAINST FIRE AND PANIC. 

The blanket regulation. — Blanket regulations, or the power to make 
such regulations that may mean little or much, are found in 10 States. 
The statutes of New Jersey confer upon municipalities the power to 
make all needful regulations regarding fire ; those of Florida put the 
responsibility for prescribing adequate stairways and fire escapes 
upon county boards of public instruction. In Minnesota the State 
Department of Education shares with the local authorities the right 
to specify means of fire protection. The usual blanket provision 
runs almost verbatim, in four States: "All halls, doors, stairways, 
seats, passageways, and aisles, and all lighting and heating apparatus 
and appliances must be arranged to facilitate egress in case of fire 
or accident;" but this is not retroactive in any case. In New York, 
Utah, and Virginia it is enforced by the approval of plans at the 
hands of State education officers ; in North Dakota there is no enforc- 
ing authority. The Massachusetts and the Maine statutes contain an 

1 Bull. Tex. State Bd. of Health, July, 1911, p. 8. 

2 Common drinking cups and roller towels, Public Health Bulletin, No. 57, issued by the U. S. Pub. 
Health Service. 

3 Bull. Dept. Pub. Health, Montana, vol. 6, No. 1. 
* Rule of Jan. 22, 1913. 

a Rule of Jan. 3, 1913. 

s Monthly Bull. State Bd. of Health, Aug., 1912, p. 290; acts of 1912, ch. 59. 

80042°— 15 5 



34 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

equivalent clause requiring school buildings to have sufficient means 
of egress and escape from fire, and the Massachusetts supervisor of 
plans "may make such further requirements as may be necessary to 
prevent the spread of fire, or its communication from any steam 
boiler or heating apparatus therein." 

General construction. — New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Penn- 
sylvania, and Ohio have taken up the general construction of build- 
ings with a view to fire prevention. In the first-named State this has 
been done through the State building code of the State board of edu- 
cation, which has the power to hold up all plans by nonapproval; in 
Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania it is covered by the statutes; 
in Indiana by the State board of health. The rule in New Jersey is 
that two-story buildings of over four classrooms must have their outer 
walls of hard-burned brick, stone, or concrete, an incombustible roof, 
fireproof walls and fireproof floors to corridors; buildings of three or 
more stories must be of fireproof construction, i. e., wood may be used 
only for doors, windows, window frames, roof rafters, trusses, trim, 
and finished floors. No Connecticut schoolhouse for pupils below 
the high school may contain over two stories above the basement; 
for high-school pupils it may extend three stories above the basement, 
if fireproof, but all nonfireproof buildings of over seven classrooms 
must have their outer walls and walls separating schoolrooms from 
corridors built of fireproof material. Indiana limits the height of 
all schools to two stories above the basement. In Pennsylvania 
districts of over 500,000 inhabitants, all schools of two or more stories 
must be of fireproof construction; in other districts this requirement 
applies only to buildings of over two stories. 

Ohio, again, is much more detailed and somewhat more strict. 
Schools of three stories — the maximum permitted — must be fireproof. 
This allows wood only for floors, doors, windows, and the usual trim 
of the interior of rooms. The specified height of the stories, 15 feet 
from floor to ceiling, makes it impossible, even with a basement, for 
children to be much more than 40 feet above the ground. Frame 
structures are permitted only for single-story buildings, without base- 
ments, with their floors not over 4 feet above the grade line, provided 
also that they are not within 30 feet of the lot line or any other struct- 
ure and not within 200 feet of the city fire limits . Thus it happens that 
many schools of one story and most of those of two stories fall under 
the third type of construction, which is denominated composite. This 
is the same as the fireproof except for the use of wood as columns, 
girders, beams, and roof trusses. But if a composite building is 
erected in connection with one of fireproof construction, the two shall 
be separated by fireproof walls, and all communicating openings 
guarded by fireproof doors. Both fireproof walls and fireproof doors 
are fully standardized by law. No room accommodating over 100 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 35 

persons shall be located above the second story in a fireproof building, 
nor above the first story in a composite building. 

Special construction. — Furnace room and heating apparatus are 
most often mentioned under the head of special construction. Fur- 
nace, boiler, and fuel rooms in Indiana schools must be of fireproof 
construction; the furnace, if located in the basement, shall have a 
fireproof floor above it, but may never be situated immediately be- 
neath any lobby, corridor, stairway, or exit. According to the Kan- 
sas law, furnaces are to be covered on top with asbestos or masonry, 
and ceilings above furnaces are to be covered with asbestos. The 
furnace itself shall not be within 18 inches of woodwork. Ohio 
allows the furnace, hot-water heating boiler, low-pressure steam 
boiler, and fuel supply to be within the school building if they are in- 
closed in a thoroughly fireproof heater room, but no boiler or furnace 
may be located under "any lobby, exit, stairway, or corridor." The 
New Jersey State Board of Education will approve no plans unless they 
show boiler and furnace rooms inclosed by fireproof walls, floors, and 
ceiling, and all openings closed by self-closing fire doors. The State 
schoolhouse commission of Utah goes further still, and withholds 
approval if the furnace or heating apparatus is placed in the base- 
ment or immediately under the building. Connecticut is more liberal, 
requiring only in schools of over seven rooms, not fireproof, that all 
wooden construction about heating apparatus shall be well protected 
by fireproof material. 

Approval of plans in New Jersey includes several other precau- 
tions in special construction. Ceilings in buildings over one story 
shall be of sheet metal or plastered on metal lath. All waste paper 
chutes shall bo of fireproof material. Chimneys may not be started 
upon any floor or wood beams. They shall be lined with cast iron, 
clay, or terra cotta pipe throughout, or, in the case of large flues, 
with fire brick 15 feet above the smoke inlet. All timber must be 
framed 2 inches clear of the brick of chimneys. Ventilating flues 
or ducts must not touch any wood construction. Steam or hot- 
water pipes, if protected by a metallic shield, shall be 1 inch from 
wood construction, otherwise 2 inches away. In Minnesota, when- 
ever furnace heat is in use, the hot-air flue leading from the furnace 
to the schoolroom is built of brick or of heavy galvanized iron 
covered with asbestos. In Indiana, chimneys must extend from the 
ground to a point 4 feet above the highest part of the roof, and the 
outside walls shall not be less than 8 inches thick. North Dakota 
and Massachusetts have an identical law to the effect (1) that in 
new buildings no wooden flues or air ducts may be used for heating 
or ventilating purposes, and (2) that no pipe for conveying hot air 
or steam shall come within 1 inch of woodwork unless suitably pro- 
tected by incombustible material. 



36 



SCHOOLHOTJSE SANITATION. 



Corridors and inner stairways. — The story of abundant facilities 
for escape from burning buildings, blocked and worthless in the hour 
of need, has been told so often that five States have definitely tried 
to forestall disaster from such a cause. The laws are similar: Stairs 
and other passages leading to exits shall be unobstructed (Colorado) ; 
passageways shall be unobstructed (Indiana); aisles and passage- 
ways leading to means of egress must be kept open (Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island) ; no passageway shall be less in width than the stair- 
way or exit to which it leads (Ohio). Corridors, stairways, and 
toilets shall be well lighted artifically, and said artificial lights shall 
be kept burning when the building is occupied after dark (Ohio). 
Main corridors shall be at least 1 1 feet wide, and in buildings of more 
than eight rooms at least 13 feet wide (Indiana). These provisions 
are statutory except those of Indiana, which are the decree of the 
State board of health. 



Table 3. — Protection against fire and panic. 



States and references. 


Blanket 
regula- 
tion. 


General 
or special 
construc- 
tion. 


Corridors 
and 
inner 

stair- 
ways. 


Exits. 


Exterior 
escapes. 


Alarms 
and fire- 
flghting 
appara- 
tus. 


Drills. 


















1890. 
Colorado: Eev. Stat., 1908, 






Lma 

Lma 










ch. 18. 


Lma 


Lma 






Lma 

LXAma 




cli. 81 ; laws of 1913, ch. 40. 
Florida: School Laws, p. 90; 
Fire Code of Public 
Schools based on Laws of 
Florida, ch. 5937, sec. 6. 


Lma; 
LXAma. 
















1550-52. 
Illinois: Rev. Stat. (1911), 
ch. 55a. 
















XA'ma . 


XA'ma . 


XA'ma . 


Lma; 
XA'ma. 

Lm (cities 
and in- 
corpo- 
rated 
towns); 
LA"ma; 
Lma. 

LBC'ma.. 


Lma; 
LX"C"pa. 

LpXC'ma. 

Lma 

LpXC'm 
(larger 
cities). 






tions by State bd. of 
health, p. 38; School Law, 
p. 133; Burns' Annotated 
Stat., 1908, sec. 3841 ; Bull., 
1913, No. 52, U. S. Bur. of 
Ed., pp. 10, 13, 18; School 
Law, pp. 139-141. 
Iowa: Laws of 1909, ch. 220; 






School Laws, p. 136; Sup- 
plement, Code of 1907, sec. 
4999. 

Kansas: Laws relating to 
common schools, pp. 90- 
91; Gen. Stat, of 1909, ch. 
44. 

Kentucky: Stat, of 1909, 
sees. 1830-32. 




LBC'ma 




Lma 


LBC'ma 




















Laws, p. 108. 


















i Explanation of symbols: 

1. Regulating authority: Statutory (legislative enactments)=L. Judicial (decisions in common or 
statute law)= J. Administrative (rules of State departments of education, health, etc.)=X. 

2. Enforcing authority: Educational: State= A. County=B. Town=C. District=D. Health: State 
=A\ County=B'. Local=C. Fire or factory inspectors, etc.: State= A". Local=C". 

3. Character of regulation: Mandatory=m. Permissive=p. Encouraged by financial aid= e. 

4. Extent of "application: State wide=a. Outside certain classes of cities=b. Consolidated districts 
only=c. Rural districts only=d. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 
Table 3. — Protection against fire and panic — Continued. 



37 



Stales and references. 


Blanket 

regula- 
tion. 


General 
or special 
construc- 
tion. 


Corridors 
and inner 
stair- 
ways. 


Exits. 


Exterior 
escapes. 


Alarms 
and fire- 
lighting 
appara- 
tus. 


Drills. 


Maine: Laws of 1909, ch. 100. 
Maryland: Laws of 1906, ch. 

709. 
Massachusetts: Acts of 1907, 

ch. 503; Rev. Laws, 1902, 

ch. 104, sees. 23 and 26; 

acts of 1913, ch. 655, sees. 

11,15,40,41. 








Lma 


Lma 

LpXA"ma 

Lma 

LpXA"ma 


Lma 












Lma 


Lma 


Lma 


Lma 


Lma 




Laws, pp. 177,74. 


L (local 
offi- 
cials) 
pa. 


XAeb... 




XA'ma.. 
LC'ma. 




ch. 36; State Health Laws 

and Regulations, p. 54; 

Bull. No. 40, Dept. of Pub. 

Instr. 
Mississippi: Code of 1906, 

sees. 2267, 2272. 
Missouri: Rev. Stat., 1909, 




Lma 




















ch. 103, Art. I. 

Montana: School Laws, pp. 
121-22. 

Nebraska: Cobbey's Com- 
piled Stat., 1907,'sccs. 2334- 
35; Law of Apr. 10, 1911; 
Regulations of Dept. of 
Labor. 

New Hampshire: Laws re- 
lating to common schools, 
p. 33. 

New Jersey: Compiled Stat., 












Lma 










Lma 

Lma 

Lma 

XAma. 


LpXA"ma 

LpXC'ma 
XAma 














L (mu- 
n ic i- 
p ali- 

ties) p. 


XAnia.. 


XAma.. 
Lma 






1709-1910, p. 2325; State 
Bldg. Code; School Laws, 
p. 73. 








453. 
North Carolina: Public 












Laws, 1909, ch. 637, sees. 
3,5. 
North Dakota: School Laws, 


Lma 


Lma 

Lma 


Lma 

Lma 


Lma 

Lma 








pp. 104-5; Laws of 1913, 
ch. 255. 
Ohio: State Bldg. Code, 


Lma . 


Lma 




part 2, title 3; ibid., part 

3, title 1; ibid., title 7; 

School Laws, p. 88; acts 

of 1913. 
Oklahoma: Law of Apr. 28, 

1908. 
Oregon: School Laws, p. 63; 


















Laws of 1913, ch. 177. 








Lma 

LA"ma... 


LpXC'ma 


Lma 




p. 43; Purdon's Digest, 
pp. 1681-83; ibid., Supple- 
ment, p. 5501; School Code, 
pp. 169-70. 
Rhode Island: Laws relat- 






LA"ma. 




ing to education , pp. 80-82. 
Texas: Law effective July 

1, 1913. 
Utah: School Law, p. 30 












L Amb . . 


L Amb . . 












Vermont: Regulations State 




XA'ma . 
LAma. . 


XA'ma.. . 
LAma 


LpX (city 
council, 
c o unty 
super- 
visors) a. 






Bd. of Health issued May 
l,1911;Gen.Laws relating 
to pub. instr., p. 62. 
Virginia: School Law, p. 43; 








ibid., p. 120. 
Washington: School Laws, 










p. 115. 
Wisconsin: Laws of 1911, 








Lma 


Lma 


Lma 




ch. 441,378. 











38 SCHOOL-HOUSE SANITATION. 

Number and situation of stairways. — So many States have decided 
upon true fire escapes, i. e., some sort of ladder, stair, or tube out- 
side the building itself, that the number and position of inner stair- 
ways have received attention in only a few of the remaining States. 
The law of Texas and the Vermont State Board of Health agree in 
requiring that in schools of over one story there shall be two stair- 
ways as far apart as practicable. Ohio schools of fireproof con- 
struction must have at least two stairways located as far apart as 
possible and continuous from the grade line to the top story. Like- 
wise the basement must have two stairways as far apart as possible, 
leading up to the grade line. These stairways shall be equipped 
with standard self-closing fire doors at each floor and surrounded 
with fireproof walls. Composite buildings are required to have 
exterior escapes, while fireproof buildings are not. 1 Connecticut and 
New Jersey make the number of stairways dependent on the number 
of classrooms. In the former, schools of over seven classrooms, not 
fireproof, must have fireproof stairs at opposite sides of the building. 
In the latter, buildings of over four and less than nine classrooms 
must have two flights of stairs at opposite ends of the building. If 
there are over eight classrooms, three or more flights must be pro- 
vided, subject to the approval of the State board of education as to 
number and location, though one flight shall always be near each 
end of the building. In New Jersey all stairs of new buildings must 
be inclosed by fireproof walls and built of incombustible material. 

The winding stair. — One of the most common regulations governing 
stairways has reference to turns, whereas the breadth and number of 
stairs, and the dimensions of treads, appear to be fraught with so 
much greater importance. Circular stairs or winding treads are pro- 
hibited in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont. All turns must 
be made by platforms in Indiana, New York, North Dakota, Texas, 
and Virginia. North Dakota stipulates that a wider step is not a 
platform, and Texas fixes 4 feet as the minimum width of the plat- 
form. 

Other stairway regulations. — Indiana, New York, North Dakota, 
Ohio, and Virgmia forbid any door to open upon a stairway unless 
a platform or landing, at least as wide as the door, intervenes 
between such a door and the stairs. Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, 
New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Vermont require a hand rail on each 
side of the stairs. There must be an intermediate landing, i. e., a 
landing between stories, in New Jersey and Texas, while the length 
of flights is limited in Vermont to 15 and in Ohio and Minnesota 
to 16 steps. Ohio, Minnesota, and Indiana have also set a mini- 

1 In composite buildings, however, the basement stairs must be guarded by walls of incombustible 
material from 6 to 12 inches thick, according to the material used. The basement stairs in all cases are 
to be of stone, cement, or iron; the areaways around these are to be guarded on both sides by rails. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 



39 



mum of three risers for a flight, compelling the use of gradients for 
differences in floor levels that would demand fewer risers. These 
gradients must not rise over 1 inch in 12. The minimum width of 
stairs in Indiana is 5 feet; in New Jersey (except cellar stairs) and 
Vermont, 4 feet; in Ohio, 3 feet 6 inches; in Minnesota 3 feet. Ohio 
alone has set a maximum width for a single flight, 6 feet. Ver- 
mont sets a mhiimum total width of stairways at 20 inches per 100 
pupils. Ohio sets the same figure as for minimum total width of 
exits in fireproof buildings, 3 feet per 100 pupils for the first 500, 
thereafter a decreasing ratio. While this appears to be much more 
liberal than Vermont's 20 inches, it must be remembered that one- 
half of the required width in composite buildings is given to inclosed 
fireproof stairs or fire escapes, the other half to the main-service 
stairs. All runs of stairs in New Jersey and Ohio are to be of uni- 
form width, uniform rise and tread throughout. In the former State, 
risers shall not exceed 7 inches, nor treads 12 inches, including the 
projecting nosings. In the latter the following limits have been set: 

Limitations of stair risers and treads in Ohio. 



Classes of schools. 


Maximum 

height of 

riser. 


Minimum 

width of 

tread. 




Inches. 
6 
68 

7 


Inches. 
11 
11 
10J 









Indiana also stands for a uniform rise and tread, viz, that which 
Ohio has set for grammar schools. All treads are to be covered with 
rubber or equally nonslipping surface (Ohio). New Jersey seeks to 
avoid slipping by specifying that corrugated metal safety treads are 
to be embedded in concrete stairs. No closet for storage can be 
placed under any stairs (Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio). 

Doors to open outward. — About half the States have dealt in some 
manner with exits from school buildings. The various statutes and 
rulings touch in different ways the number of exits, their situation, 
their size, and especially the swinging of doors, together with other 
important topics. The following States require' that all doors open 
outward : 

Without additional qualification — Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New 

York, Vermont. 
For buildings over one story — Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin 

(all buildings in cities). 
For buildings with more than one room — Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, North 

Dakota. 
For buildings with more than two rooms — New Hampshire. 
Public school buildings only specified — Florida, Louisiana. 
Public and private schools both specified — Kansas. 



40 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

Outer doors only specified — Florida, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania (in old build- 
ings). 

Outer doors and all others leading thereto — Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, 
New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania (in new buildings), Wisconsin. 

To affect cities and incorporated towns only — Iowa. 

Leading from principal room and building — Nebraska (not retroactive with respect to 
rural schools). 1 

If double or storm doors are used in Indiana, the outer ones shall 
be without fastenings, but held in place by spring hinges. 

Louisiana and New Jersey permit expressly the use of swinging 
doors, but in the latter State they must be provided with plate-glass 
windows. In Ohio double-acting, sliding, or revolving doors are for- 
bidden. Even those doors that according to law must swing out- 
ward shall be so arranged that they shall not in so swinging obstruct 
any other passageway. 

Doors to be unlocked. — With the exceptions noted in parentheses 
following, these States demand that all doors be unlocked during 
school hours : Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (public 
and private, if over one story), Michigan, North Dakota, Oregon (exit 
doors only mentioned), Wisconsin. New York, North Dakota, and 
Vermont provide that the standing leaf of double doors shall be fas- 
tened with movable bolts operated simultaneously at top and bottom 
by one handle at a convenient height on the inner face of the door. 
All exit doors in Indiana must be unlockable from within. In New 
Jersey all exit doors, and in Ohio all doors leading directly to the 
outside or simply toward the outside, must be incapable of being 
locked so as to prevent their being opened by turning a knob or 
pressing a bar or lever from the inside. Rhode Island, while silent 
regarding exits in ordinary service, provides that all doors or windows 
leading to fire escapes shall swing outward and be unlocked during 
school sessions. 

Number of exits.- — There is more uniformity as to egress from rooms 
than as to number of outer exits. In Indiana and North Carolina 
all rooms above the second story must have more than one means of 
egress. The Massachusetts acts of 1913 say that all rooms contain- 
ing 10 persons, whether or not above the second story, shall have 
more than one means of egress. Ohio makes two exits mandatory 
for each room in buildings of composite construction, one of 
these to lead to the exterior fire escape or stairs, the other to the 
corridor. All basement rooms used by pupils shall have an exit 
aside from the usual means of entrance and egress. In buildings of 
frame construction there shall be two exits from each room, one of 
them leading directly to the open with steps to the grade. Kansas 
requires that above the first story there shall be two exits separate 
from those for the lower floor, but suitable iron or steel fire escapes 

1 This aflects practically all rural schools, since the law was enacted in 1877. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 41 

may be provided in lieu of these exits. Maine requires only that 
there shall be two means of egress from each story above the first, 
while in New Jersey there shall be an exit to the ground for every 
flight of stairs leading to the first story. Connecticut demands at 
least one exit at opposite ends of nonfireproof buildings containing 
over seven classrooms, and a fireproof door at the head of the base- 
ment stairs. 

Width of exits. — The Colorado law reads that doors must have a 
width of 5 feet for every 250 persons seated within. North Dakota 
ignores the number of pupils entirely and compels all schools of over 
one room hereafter erected to have an exit at least 4 feet 6 inches 
wide. While the laws of all other States except Ohio make no require- 
ments, the latter State has worked the ground over pretty thoroughly. 
In the first place exit doors in addition to being level with the floor 
must not be less than 6 feet 4 inches high and 3 feet wide. The 
maximum width is 6 feet. The total width of means of egress from 
fireproof buildings is graduated, since this classification includes the 
largest structures, in the following manner: 

To accommodate not over 500, width of 3 feet per 100 persons. 

To accommodate 500-1,000, additional width of 2 feet per 100 additional persons. 

To accommodate over 1,000, additional width of 1 foot per 100 additional persons. 

The buildings of composite construction must have exits 3 feet in 
width per 100 persons accommodated. Frame buildings, being lim- 
ited to one story, are cared for by two 3-foot exits. 

Fire escapes. — The decision as to number, location, and character 
of fire escapes is left more to the discretion of officials than anything 
connected with fire protection. Thus far in the discussion it has been 
mainly a question of the law on stairways, exits, etc. Now it becomes 
largely a question of technical judgment exercised under law. The local 
fire officials in Iowa are allowed to determine the number of fire 
escapes, if more than one is to be erected. In Indiana the local 
or the State fire officials may determine both the number and the 
type of escapes, though the more vital questions go to the chief inspec- 
tor of the State. In Virginia, by State law, the city council in munici- 
palities, elsewhere the county supervisors, decide upon character and 
design of escapes. The Kentucky law gives full control of fire escapes 
in cities of over 10,000 to the local fire chief. The Michigan law per- 
mits factory inspectors, whenever they see fit, to require schools of 
over one story to be provided with fire escapes, and to make out 
specifications for the same. The State fire marshal of Maryland may 
compel the erection of such means of exit as he judges proper, and 
the commissioner of labor in Nebraska also has very large powers. 
The regulation of fire escapes in New Jersey and Vermont is left to 
central administrative authorities — to the State board of education 
in the former, and to the State board of health in the latter. Eleven 



42 SCHOOLHOXJSE SANITATION. 

States rely in part or wholly upon administrative regulations, 13 upon 
statutory requirements. 

Relation to height of building . — The height of the buildings affected 
is of great consequence. The Maine, Massachusetts, and Maryland 
laws do not state what height of building is within the statute, and 
the same is true of the administrative rules of New Jersey and Ver- 
mont. The Ohio law requires exterior escapes even from one-story 
buildings, unless of fireproof construction. One or more escapes for 
all buildings over one story is the standard in California, Michigan, 
and North Dakota. Only those over two stories are covered in 
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ne- 
braska, New Hampshire, New York (except New York City), Okla- 
homa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. The Virginia 
law applies only to buildings over three stories. 

Number of escapes. — In the majority of cases the legal number of 
fire escapes is indefinite. The Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, and 
Wisconsin statutes speak of "one or more," and many other States 
leave the inquirer in doubt. Scarcely a half dozen have standardized 
their regulations on this point. Illinois and Missouri schools must 
have one escape for every 50 persons above the second story. Penn- 
sylvania schools must have two escapes if there are over 100 people 
above the second story. Oklahoma is more strict, with an escape 
for every 30 above the second story; Nebraska cuts the number to 
25. New Hampshire adopts a different basis, viz, one escape for 
every 150 feet or fraction thereof that the building measures in length. 
Rhode Island's law directs that the escape or incombustible stairs 
be at each end of the building. 

Accessibility. — The accessibility of fire escapes was to some slight 
extent discussed under "Exits." 1 This was unavoidable, since some 
of the laws make no distinction between those exits leading to fire 
escapes and those used for ordinary purposes. Escapes are usually 
reached through windows, but in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and 
New York doors must be used. In New Jersey it is provided that 
the doors for this purpose must be cut to floor level. The means of 
access shall be one or more windows at each story in Illinois, Indiana, 
Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania; two windows 
at each story in Nebraska; and "at least two" at each story in Wis- 
consin. North Dakota demands that the escape be accessible from 
each schoolroom. Idaho, Maine, and Missouri stipulate only that 
the escape shall be accessible from each story. In the following 
States the means of access just mentioned apply only above the 
first story : Indiana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, and 
Wisconsin. The Michigan law speaks of "landing and balconies at 
each story above the first," but does not mention their accessibility. 

1 See pp. 40 and 41. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 43 

From the standpoint of the interior of the building, a few mis- 
cellaneous provisions relate to exits to escapes. 1 In Florida the State 
superintendent has decided that all doors and windows leading to fire 
escapes shall be labeled accordingly ; and Vermont and Pennsylvania 
have a similar regulation. According to the Iowa and Oklahoma 
statutes, signs at all landings and in all rooms shall signify the loca- 
tion of escapes. Massachusetts fixes 5 inches as the minimum height 
of the letters that shall be used to mark each exit; Ohio compels the 
use of letters 6 inches high. In Indiana the lower sash of windows 
must open outward or upward. Window exits in Ohio are indirectly 
prohibited. They may lead only to a type of fire escape that is not to 
be used on schools. 

Landings for escapes. — Another point closely connected with acces- 
sibility of escapes is the custom of placing landings or balconies op- 
posite exits. Platforms of some sort must connect with exits in 
Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, 
New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, 
Vermont, and Wisconsin. In Ohio there must even be landings be- 
tween stories if necessary to keep flights from exceeding 18 risers. 
Massachusetts regulations say not exceeding 15 nor less than 3 
risers in stairs. No winders are permitted. Balconies must be pro- 
vided with railings in Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ne- 
braska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The railing 
is to be 3 feet high in Indiana, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. 
Vermont demands 2 feet 10 inches; Wisconsin 2 feet 9 inches. 
Ohio varies the standard from 2 feet 6 inches to 4 feet, according 
to circumstances. In Vermont and Nebraska the space below the 
railing must be filled in with some sort of netting. Commonly the 
rail is specified to be of the same incombustible material as the fire 
escape itself. The floor of the landings has not been overlooked. 
In Nebraska it must be on a level with the story, and in Vermont 
not more than 9 inches below the sills of communicating windows. 
In Ohio this is reduced to 7 inches. The size of platforms is 
mentioned in the statutes of at least four States ; in Vermont they 
must be 4 feet wide; in Wisconsin, 3 feet 4 inches; in Nebraska, 
as wide as the windows and 2 feet deep; in Ohio, not less than 3^ feet 
square in any case, and under some circumstances larger still. The 
load capable of being borne per square foot of landings brings out 
some difference of opinion. The Nebraska law calls for strength suf- 
ficient to bear a load of 300 pounds per square foot, but 75 and 80 
pounds is the average regulation as shown by the laws of Ohio, Penn- 
sylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. 

TTie materials of escapes. — It seems scarcely necessary to enter into 
a review of the material to be used in the construction of escapes, 

1 References bearing on this paragraph are given under " Exits" in Table 3. 



44 SCHOOLHOTJSE SANITATION. 

since the very term "fire escape" implies incombustible material. 
Most of the laws are carefully framed; such expressions are found 
as "fireproof," "incombustible," "iron," "wrought iron," "steel," 
etc. The type of the escapes is very important and does not show so 
great uniformity. Aside from the discretion vested in certain execu- 
tive authorities, the statutes and published regulations of administra- 
tive bodies make possible the following summary of permissible 
structures for fire escapes: 

Ladders — Idaho, Iowa. 

Ladders or stairs — Illinois, New Hampshire, Oklahoma. 

Stairs — Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin (not retroactive). 
Stairs, chutes, or toboggans — Nebraska. 

How made secure. — Safety of escapes is contemplated by several 
provisions that have to do with the method of fastening to the build- 
ing. Indiana requires that the fastenings extend clear through the 
wall. Wisconsin calls for the support of the stairs by the balcony, 
and of the balcony by brackets. Ohio provides for three different 
forms or types of escape. One is supported by brackets from the wall 
of the building. Another may run parallel with or at right angles 
to the wall of the building, and is independently supported by columns 
at a distance of at least 2\ feet from the building. The third is a 
tower 8 feet from the building, with the stairs between any two ad- 
jacent stories broken into two flights running in opposite directions. 
Bridges connect this type of escape to the building at each story. 

Extent of escapes. — When the extent of escapes is mentioned, 
aside from accessibility at different stories, it is principally to insure 
that the inmates shall be able to reach the ground without delay or 
danger. Missouri, for instance, provides that the escapes shall 
extend to the ground. Indiana requires a drop ladder 16 inches 
wide from the lower platform to the ground. Wisconsin substitutes 
for the drop ladder a permanent balance stairway. Ohio interdicts 
the use of any outside stairway or fire escape unless it comes within 
8 feet of the grade line. 

Slant. — Slant is regulated in two ways. The maximum degree of 
slant is set down as 45° in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, 
and as 55° in Missouri. The matter is settled in other States by the 
regulation of treads. The maximum height and width of tread in 
New Jersey are 7 and 10 \ inches, respectively. This tends toward a 
slant of less than 45°. Vermont fixes the angle satisfactorily with a 
minimum tread of 9 inches and a maximum rise of 8 J inches. Ohio 
does likewise with a fixed tread of 10 inches and a riser of 7 inches. 

Railings. — Handrails on escapes, apart from platforms, are re- 
quired on both sides in some States even when the escape does not 
diverge from the building. Vermont fixes a minimum of 2 feet 10 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 45 

inches, North Dakota one of 2 feet 6 inches, Wisconsin one of 3 feet. 
New Jersey leads all with a screen 5 feet high on the outside. Ohio 
has a varying requirement of from 2 feet 7 inches to 3 feet 7 inches, 
the distance to be measured perpendicularly from the nosing of the 
step. 

Miscellaneous. — The width of escapes varies widely, as can be seen 
from the following: 

Inches. 
20. — Nebraska. 
22. — Wisconsin. 
24. — Pennsylvania. 
36. — New Jeraey, North Dakota. 
40-44.— Ohio. 

So also is there variation in standards for strength of escapes' 
Pennsylvania places 400 pounds as the load per tread; Vermont 
places only 200. Vermont figures throughout on a safety factor of 4. 
Vermont, too, requires a strength of 100 pounds per step for the 
flight as a whole; Wisconsin insists on 150 pounds; Ohio has several 
provisions of a like character. Escapes are not to pass a window 
unless unavoidably (Missouri) ; if they pass a window, the window is 
to be glazed with wire glass (New Jersey). All surfaces of platforms 
and stairs shall be of "rough diamond" to prevent slipping 
(Nebraska). Besides the stair escapes there shall be in each room 
above the second story a rope 1 inch in diameter securely attached to 
a chain over a window. This rope shall be long enough to reach the 
ground (Pennsylvania). Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, 
Vermont, and Wisconsin, especially warn that all escapes shall be 
kept free from various obstructions, such as snow, ice, etc. The 
doors to escapes must not be bolted or locked during school hours 
(New York). 

Penalties. — Penalties are more consistently announced by the various 
States for violation of the laws on fire protection than for the viola- 
tion of any other provision in the whole code of school hygiene. Not 
all of these have been noted in the examination of statutes, but some 
samples have been collected. Michigan is one of the most severe, 
with a fine of from $100 to SI, 000 and imprisonment of from three 
months to a year. Imprisonment is not a rare penalty, however. 

Alarms and jire-figTiting apparatus. — In five States schools of cer- 
tain sizes must have a fire-alarm system. Schools of over three rooms 
come under the law in Minnesota. In Connecticut and Ohio (except 
one-story buildings without a basement) there must be gongs located 
in the halls and operated from each story; but in Connecticut a bell 
in each room, similarly operated, may replace the gong. In Montana 
there must in all schools of over 30 pupils be a fire gong operated from 
each room and from the basement. In Florida special gongs to be 



46 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

used for fire signals only must be capable of operation from both the 
basement and the office floor, and a fire-alarm box must be located in 
the principal's office. 

One chemical fire extinguisher on each floor is required in Florida, 
Kansas, and Minnesota; one for each 2,000 square feet of floor area or 
less on each story above the basement in Ohio ; one on each story above 
the first in Minnesota (if there be over two stories). Massachusetts 
requires that there be in readiness on each story above the second pails 
of water or other portable apparatus, or a hose attached to suitable 
water supply and capable of reaching any part of the story. Maine 
demands that each story above the first shall be equipped with some 
portable fire apparatus or a hose attached to a suitable water supply. 
In Ohio a standpipe and a hose in the basement are sufficient, unless a 
75-foot hose will not reach all parts of the building, in which event 
other standpipes must be constructed. In Minnesota, buildings over 
two stories used for educational purposes shall, "when practicable," 
be provided with a If -inch inside standpipe with sufficient If -inch 
hose connected therewith on each floor and sufficient pressure either 
constantly maintained or available through pumps at a moment's 
notice, or a 2|-inch metallic standpipe on the outside with accessible 
connections at each story. In cities and villages where there is a 
water supply, Wisconsin requires that there shall be attached to fire 
escapes a 3-inch standpipe, but no connection must be maintained 
except on the roof. 

Drills. — The importance of fire drills has appealed to several 
States. Florida specifies drills for public schools only; Michigan 
and Iowa, for public and private schools. It is probable that most 
of the other States contemplate only the public schools in prescrib- 
ing drills. The drills must occur as often as once a month in 9 of 
the 11 States maintaining them; in Washington, semimonthly; in 
Montana, weekly. The size of schools that must practice the drills 
varies in the following manner for the different States : 

Schools subject to law on escapes, exits, and fire-fighting appliances — Pennsylvania. 
Schools of over — 

30 pupils — Montana. 

50 pupils — Vermont, Washington. 

50 pupils in average daily attendance — Ohio, Oregon. 

100 pupils — Kansas. 

100 pupils and over 1 story high — New York. 
Schoolhouses over 1 story high — Iowa. 

Florida and Michigan do not state any exceptions to the liability to 
keep up the drills. Very little other direction is given for this exer- 
cise. The drills in Florida are to include movement with unob- 
structed exits and the diversion of the fines to exits not regularly 
used, as well as the use of fire escapes. In Pennsylvania the drill is 
to include the use of the escapes and other appliances. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

VII. LIGHTING. 



47 



Though the lighting of schools has not received the stress in regu- 
lations and statutes that hygienists claim it deserves, the aspects of 
the matter regarded in different States have been to a considerable 
extent the same, thus making a tabular presentation of some value. 

Table 4. — Lighting. 1 



States. 


References. 


Light 
ratio. 


Direc- 
tion. 


Height of 
win- 
dows. 


Color of 

walls, 
ceiling, 
shades. 


Miscel- 
laneous. 




Sixteenth Bien. Rep. of State Bd. 

of Health, p. 72. 
School Law, p. 134; Bull. 1913, 

No.52 U.S.Bu. of Ed., p. 11. 
Pub. School Laws, p. 125 




XA'ma . 
Lma 










L m a ; 

XA'ma. 

Xii/nia . 

XAma . . 

X A 'm 
(towns 
over 
1,000); 

Lma 

XAma.. 

Lma 

Lma 

Lma 


Lma 


Lma 


XA'ma. 






Minnesota 


Rules, Dept. of Ed. , Bull. 56 
Regulation 26, State Bd. of 
Health; Laws of 1913. 


XAma . . 

X A 'm 
(towns 
over 
1,000); 


XAma . . 

X A 'm 
(towns 
over 
1,000). 


XAma . . 










New Jersey 


XAma.. 




XAma. 












Ohio . 


State Building Code, part 2, title 

3. 
School Code, p. 42 


Lma 


















Bien. Ret), of Supt. of Pub. Instr. 

(1910-1912), p. 155. 
Law effective July 1, 1913; acts 

of 1913, ch. 120. 
Regulations State Bd. of Health 

issued May 1, 1911. 


XAma.. 
Lma 

XA'ma . 
LXBma 










Lma 

XA'ma . 
LXBma 










XA'ma . 


XA'ma . 



















i For explanation of symbols, see p. 7. 

Light ratio. — Students of school hygiene have, as a rule, decided on 
1 to 5 as the proper ratio of window area to floor area, and legislative 
enactments and administrative rules have usually followed this 
minimum. The standards in different States, so far as established, 
are exhibited below: 

1 to 4 — Virginia. 

lto 5 — Indiana (if light is from the north), Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, 

Ohio (study, class, and recitation rooms, and laboratories), Pennsylvania, 

Vermont (1 to 4 recommended). 
1 to 6 — Indiana, Texas. 
1 to 7 — Louisiana, Montana (all schools). 
1 to 10 — Ohio (play, toilet, and recreation rooms). 

It is not infrequent to find "actual glass area" mentioned instead 
of "window area." North Dakota permits the use of reflecting lenses 
to offset a deficiency in actual lighting area; New Jersey will allow 
a 10 per cent deficiency to be corrected by the use of prism glass in 
the upper sash. 

Direction of light. — Under the head of "Direction of light " a number 
of possible rules may be taken up. Children must not sit facing a 



48 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

window (Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas). A stronger 
provision is for light from the left, or left and rear only (New Jersey, 
North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia). Montana's 
law for light is from left and rear. Indiana is the only State which 
has gone to the logical limit in protecting the eyes of both pupils and 
teachers by permitting light only from the left, except for left-handed 
students. This exception is without force obviously, since nowhere 
have left-handers been segregated. Minnesota and Texas have also 
gone some distance toward unilateral lighting, but in Minnesota 
exception is made of those unusual classrooms over 24 feet wide. 
Texas demands that the main light come from the left in all 1-room 
schools, and in larger schools as nearly as architectural demands and 
the systems of ventilation will permit. 

The Minnesota Department of Education is the only body that has 
referred in regulations to the points of the compass from which light 
should come. This solitary instance in itself is evidence of the disa- 
greement that still obtains among those who have thought and written 
so much on this particular subject. The Minnesota regulation is: 

Buildings shall be so placed that each room, except such as may be herein speci- 
fied, shall receive sunlight during some part of the day. Laboratories, manual 
training rooms, rooms for mechanical and freehand drawing, and other rooms not 
continuously used for recitation and study, may be lighted from the north. Light 
from the east is most desirable. Light from the west holds second place. Light 
from the north as well as from the south should be avoided in school rooms and 
study rooms. 

Height of windows. — Closely allied to direction of light and light 
ratio is the height of the windows. Hygienic considerations apply 
especially to the height of their tops. Minnesota, South Dakota, 
and Vermont require that the windows shall approach as near the 
ceiling as possible under the usual architectural limitations. Indiana 
and Montana make the permissible difference in height of ceiling and 
of windows not over 1 foot. Ohio makes it 8 inches, Texas reduces 
it to 6. It is apparent, nevertheless, that however close windows may 
come to the ceiling, a low ceiling in a broad room will prevent proper 
lighting. Hence we find in Ohio that the height of the window head 
above the floor must always be 40 per cent of the width of the room; 
if lighting is unilateral. And in Texas no part of a study hall or 
classroom is to be further from the window than twice the height of 
the window from the floor, except where adequate skylights are pro- 
vided. The height of the window sill from the floor may also be of 
hygienic significance if the room is ventilated by windows. No 
maximum distance from the floor is given in any State, but the 
minimum is 4 feet in Indiana and Vermont, 3^ in Texas. 

Interior color scheme. — The color of walls, ceilings, and window 
shades is deserving of far more attention than it has so far received. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 49 

Indiana directs that the shades shall be of some neutral color, "as 
blue, gray, slate, buff, or green." In Vermont they are to be gray 
or buff, two for each window, hung in the center, so that either the 
lower or the upper half may be shaded. Minnesota has nothing on 
color, but has declared that translucent rather than opaque shades 
shall be used. Indiana takes ground for a neutral color for walls and 
callings also, such as "gray, slate, buff, or green." Vermont requires 
light gray, buff, or greenish walls. 

Miscellaneous. — Among the miscellaneous provisions there are 
some interesting clauses from the Ohio statutes on exposure and 
artificial lighting. No room containing windows for lighting any 
schoolroom shall be nearer than 30 feet to any opposite building, 
structure, or property line, nor may windows used for lighting school- 
rooms open on courts, unless the wall of the court opposite such 
windows is at a distance equal to the height from the lowest window 
sill to the top of the wall of the building. This insures that direct 
light may come from an angle not over 45° from the horizontal. A 
similar condition is secured as to areaways for lighting basement 
windows, by requiring that the width of the area shall be equal to 
the height from the lowest window sill to the adjoining grade line. 
In Indiana, whenever any external object interferes with the proper 
lighting of a schoolroom, prism glass is to be used for the proper pro- 
jection and diffusion of the light. 

New Jersey and South Dakota have tried to guard against cross 
shadows by directing that windows be as close together as possible. 
Indiana confines ceilings within the limits of 12 to 14 feet, and does 
not permit rooms over 25 feet wide. The window sash shall not have 
over four lights, and the tops of all windows shall be square. 

If gas is used in Ohio schools there shall be a minimum of one 3 -foot 
burner — 

Per 15 square feet floor area in auditoriums and gymnasiums. 

Per 24 square feet floor area in halls and stairways. 

Per 12 square feet floor area in class and recitation rooms. 

Burners shall be placed 7 feet above the floor line and on fixtures 
that do not move or swing. If electricity is used there shall be a 
minimum of 1 candlepower — 

Per 2£ square feet floor area in auditoriums and gymnasiums. 
Per 4 square feet floor area in halls and stairways. 
Pejrf square feet floor area in class and recitation rooms. 

Indiana is less precise, but calls for fixtures for artificial lighting to 
be placed near the ceiling and the rays to be deflected upward by 
proper shades. 



50 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 

VIII. HEATING. 

In this section the apparatus employed for heating will be ignored 
as far as possible, that the subject of ventilation may be left for con- 
sideration at its proper place. The consequence is that provisions 
affecting heating will be found unusually homogeneous. The primary 
concern is the temperature of the various rooms. This is to be kept 
at 70° F. in all sorts of weather in Delaware, 1 Idaho, 2 Indiana, 3 Mas- 
sachusetts, 4 Montana, 5 New Jersey, 8 New York, 7 Pennsylvania, 8 
South Dakota," and Vermont. 10 The statutes of two of these States 
speak of the "average" temperature as 70°, but the meaning of 
"average" is doubtful. Possibly it means at some reasonable height 
above the floor. The required temperature in Montana applies 
only to schools in towns with over 1,000 population. In Massachu- 
setts it applies to corridors as well as rooms. Ohio makes a differen- 
tiation between rooms. 11 The heating system there must be able to 
maintain in all corridors, hallways, playrooms, toilet rooms, recrea- 
tion rooms, assembly rooms, gymnasiums, and manual training 
rooms a uniform temperature of 65° in zero weather; but all other 
parts of the building must be kept up to 70°. An exception is made, 
however, in favor of rooms with one or more open sides, used for 
open-air schools. Indiana covers emergencies for which no one may 
be responsible by providing that if the temperature falls to 60° or 
below without immediate prospect of 70° F. being attained, the 
school shall be dismissed. 12 The North Dakota law merely reads 
that the fresh air shall be warmed to 70° F. 13 

The jacketed stove. — The abuses that arose a generation ago from 
seating pupils adjacent to a direct source of heat have largely been 
abolished; they went with the unjacketed stove. This insanitary 
contrivance has been disposed of in many States by modern require- 
ments regarding ventilation which the unjacketed stove can not 
meet. But in a few cases actual prohibitory legislation or ruling 
has been judged necessary. Indiana demands a jacket of two sheets 
not less than three-fourths of 1 inch apart. 14 The outer sheet is to 

i Rule State Bd. of Health, Sixteenth Bien. Rep. State Bd. of Health, p. 72. 

2 Rule XXXIX of State Bd. of Health. 

3 School Law, p. 135. 

* Rules of inspector of factories and public buildings. 

s Regulation 26, State Bd. of Health. 

« State Building Code. 

» Ruling of Commis. of Ed., Circ. Letter of Aug. 1, 1912. 

s School Code, p. 43. 

9 School Laws, p. 74. 

io Regulations of State Bd. of Health, issued May 1, 1911. 
ii State Building Code, Part 2, title 3, sec. 21. 
12 School Law, p. 136. 
is General School Laws, p. 103. 
- 14 Bull., 1913, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., p. 12. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 51 

consist of heavy galvanized iron, or other equally durable material, 
and to be lined with sheet asbestos; the inner jacket shall be of tin 
or some "equally efficient" metal. The jacket is to extend to the 
floor and be not less than 3 inches from the stove. 

Pennsylvania demands merely some sort of a jacket. 1 Delaware 
permits the alternative of jacketing the stove or seating pupils at 
least 6 feet away from it. In South Dakota no plans will be approved 
by the State superintendent unless stoves have a metal jacket extend- 
ing 1 foot or 2 feet above the stove, with arches around the bottom 
extending 8 or 10 inches from the floor. 2 All ventilating stoves in 
Ohio schools (and ventilation is required in every school) must have 
a jacket of galvanized or black iron, extending from a point 4 inches 
above the stove to the cast-iron tray on which the stove stands. 
This tray must be 3 mches high and of the same size as the inclosing 
jacket. 3 North Dakota tries to abolish the unjacketed stove by 
State aid. 4 Minnesota uses the same force to secure a shield of Russia 
iron or copper-plated steel, with a lining of asbestos and an inside 
lining of tin, with an ample air space between. Such a shield must 
stand 6 inches away from the stove and the lower edge must be not 
less than 12 inches above the floor. 5 

Miscellaneous. — Pupils are to be protected from drafts, too, accord- 
ing to a few provisions. Vermont and Massachusetts forbid drafts 
which result hi differences of over 3° in temperature between any 
points on the breathing zone of the room. All sources of heat must 
be so jacketed in buildings hereafter constructed in Texas that desks 
near the source of heat shall not be more than 5° hotter than those on 
the distant side of the room, and systems of heating either classrooms 
or study halls shall be equipped with a regulator which will auto- 
matically control the temperature of the room to within 2° of any 
set standard. 6 If windows are relied upon for ventilation in Penn- 
sylvania, they must be equipped with some device to protect pupils 
from currents of cold air. The Indiana law prohibits direct radia- 
tion in study rooms, but it may be used in halls, offices, laboratories, 
and manual training rooms. The Vermont Board of Health has 
advised that if the building is of wood, it can be made warm by 
using heavy building paper or filling in between the sheathing and 
lath with clean, dry sawdust. Pennsylvania requires a thermometer 
in every schoolroom or recitation room. 

i School Code, p. 42. 

2 Bien. Rep. Supt. Pub. Instr., 1910-12, p. 159. 

3 State Building Code, Part 3, title 10, sec. 1, 3. 

4 State Aid to Consolidated, Graded, and Rural Schools. 
6 Bull. No. 40, Dept. of Pub. Instr. 

« Law effective July 1, 1913. 



52 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

IX. VENTILATION. 



With less than half the States saying a word on ventilation, and 
about half of these using their power only through approval of 
plans for new buildings, conditions are far from what they should be. 
Table 5 shows the general status of the subject of ventilation to date. 



Table 5. — Ventilation. 1 



States. 



References. 



Floor 
space. 



Air 
space. 



Rate of 
air 



Location 
of inlets 

and 
outlets. 



Size of 

inlets 

and 

outlets. 



Windows 
or doors 
in ven- 
tilation. 



Miscella- 
neous. 



California 
Delaware 
Indiana.. 

Louisiana 

Massa- 
chusetts. 

Minne- 
sota. 
Montana. 



New Jer- 
sey. 

New 
York. 

North 
Dakota, 



Ohio. 



Oklaho- 
ma. 

Oregon. . . 

Pennsyl- 
vania. 

South 
Dakota. 



Texas... 



Utah 

Vermont. 



Virginia. . 



Washing- 
ton. 

West Vir- 
ginia. 

W i s con- 
sin. 



Rules and Regula- 
tions State Bd. of 
Ed., sec. 9. 

Sixteenth Bien. Rep. 
State Bd.of Health, 
p. 72. 

School Law, pp. 134, 
135; Ball., 1913, 
No. 52, U. S. Bu. 
of Ed., pp. 11, 14, 
15. 

Public School Laws, 
p. 125. 

Regulations of in- 
spector of factories 
and public bldgs. 

Rules, Dept. of Ed., 
Bull. 56. 

Laws of 1913; Regu- 
lation 26, State 
Bd.of Health. 



State Bldg. Code 

Education Law, see. 

451; Circ. letter of 

Aug. 1, 1912. 
Gen. School Laws, 

p. 103; State Aid 

to Consolidated, 

Graded, and Rural 

Schools. 
State Bldg. Code, 

part 2, title 3; 

Ibid., part 3, title 

10; School Laws, 

1914, S.B. 9. 
Second Bien. Rep. 

State Pub. Health 

Dept.,pp.246,247. 
School Laws, p. 43. . . 
School Code, pp. 42- 

43. 
School Laws, sec. 

237; Bien. Rep. 

of Supt. of Pub. 

Instr., 1910-1912, 

p. 159. 
School Laws, p. 92; 

law effective July 

1, 1913; acts of 

1913, ch. 120. 

School Law, p. 30 

Regulations of State 

Bd.of Health. 
Laws of 1908, ch. 187; 

School Laws, pp. 

43, 45. 
School Laws, p. 124. . 



Code, Annotated, 
1906, sec. 4382; 
acts of 1915. 

Laws of 1907, ch. 
600. 



XAma. 
XA'ma. 



Lma 



XA'ma 



Lma; 
XA'ma. 



Lma; 
XA'ma. 



Lma; 
XA'ma. 



XA'ma . 
XA"ma. 



XA'ma . 



XAma.. 
Lma 

XAma.. 
XAmb.. 

LXAma 
Lma 



XAma.. 

Lma; 
XA'm 
(towns 

over 

1,000). 

XAma.. 

XAmb.. 



LXAma 



Lma 



XA'ma . 



XAma.. 



XA"ma. 
XAma.. 



XAma. 
XAmb. 



XAma. 



Lma. 



XAeb.. 



Lma.. 



XAeb. 



Lm 



XAma. 

XA'm 

(towns 

over 

1,000). 

XAma. 

XAmb. 

XAeb. 



Lma. 



Lma.. 
Lma.. 



Lma. 
Lma. 



Lmb.. 
XA'ma . 



LXBmb 



Lmb... 
XA'ma 



LXBmb 



Lma... 
Lma... 



Lma; 
XA'ma 



Lmb... 
XA'ma 



XA'ma 



Lma . . . 
Lma . . . 



XAma. 



Lma. 



XAma. 



XA'ma 



XA'ma 



LXBmb 



XAma. 



Lma. 



Lmb. 
XA'ma. 



LXA'pa. 

LXApe. 



1 For explanation of symbols, see p. 7. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 53 

Floor space. — The figures given are probably not supposed to apply- 
to assembly rooms, but to study and recitation rooms. This is stated 
plainly in some of the laws. Ohio is the only State which has varied 
the amount according to the age of the students. The minima in 
square feet per pupil are as follows: 

Sq. ft. 
12— North Dakota. 

15 — Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia. 
16 — Ohio (primary grades). 

18 — Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio (grammar grades) , South Dakota 1 , Vermont. 
20 — Ohio (high schools). 
35 — Minnesota (rooms for manual training or domestic science). 

Air space. — Minima in air space per pupil may be fixed either in 
gross or by specifying the floor space per pupil and also the height 
of ceiling. Where the two methods have been combined, it some- 
times happens that the air space required is greater than the product 
of minimal floor space and height of ceiling; hence at least one of 
the minima must be exceeded. Where this is the case the figures 
in parentheses are given to indicate the legal minima in floor space 
and ceiling height. The numerals at the beginning of each line 
below is the minimum cubic feet of air space per pupil. 

Cu. ft. 
200 — Louisiana, Montana, New York, North Dakota (12 by 12) Ohio (primary 

grades), Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Virginia (12 by 15). 
216 — Minnesota, New Jersey, South Dakota. 
225 — Indiana, Ohio (grammar grades), Oklahoma. 
250 — Montana (towns over 1,000), Ohio (high schools). 

Ohio has also a varying arrangement for ceilings, significant for 
lighting as well as for ventilation. The minimum height for toilet, 
play, and recreation rooms is 8 feet; for all other rooms not less than 
half the average width of the room, and in no case less than 10 feet. 

Rate of air change. — Nothing in school hygiene is more convention- 
alized than the amount of fresh air per pupil per minute. Thirty cubic 
feet is the standard in all the States listed in this column of Table 5, 
with the exception of Ohio. The requirement is not unconditional, 
however, in each case. In Pennsylvania it does not affect even the 
new buildings which are only one story high and cost less than 
$4,000. The possibility of the use of windows is suggested by three 
States that say nothing on windows in their legislative or admin- 
instrative requirements; Massachusetts holds for 30 cubic feet of 
fresh air if the outside air is below 30° F.; Minnesota maintains the 
30 cubic feet only when outside and inside temperatures differ by 
over 30° F.; Texas waives the minimum except in cold weather. 
There is also a rule of the Texas State Board of Health that 50 cubic 

» State Bd. of Health, Bull., July, 1013, p. 37, par. 103. 



54 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

feet per minute shall be furnished, but the legislative enactment 
calling for 30 cubic feet is so much younger as to suggest that the 
rule of the board of health had fallen into abeyance, if it were ever 
effective. The Ohio law states that the air in all parts of the build- 
ing, except corridors, halls, and storage closets, shall be changed at 
least six times per hour. In view of the minimum air space per 
pupil this would mean from 20 to 25 cubic feet per pupil per minute. 

Rate of air change is measured in various ways, some of which 
are very misleading. Indiana alone has described how the calcu- 
lation is to be made. The rules of procedure of the State board 
of health are as follows: The anemometer test shall be made over 
the foul-air vents in the classrooms, if jacketed heaters or gravity 
systems are used; over the fresh-air inlet of the fresh-air room and 
the fresh-air inlet in classrooms, if a plenum system is in use; at the 
fresh-air intake and at the foul-air vents in classrooms, if a double 
system of mechanical ventilation is in use. In every test five read- 
ings shall be taken, one near each corner and one at the center of 
the air opening to be tested. A deduction of 5 per cent shall be 
made for a grill in the air opening. The inlets in buildings of over 
one room are to be screened with 8-inch gauge wire of lj-inch mesh. 
This accounts for the small deduction made for grill work. 

Location of inlets and outlets. — On the position of inlets and outlets, 
either in relation to each other or to the room, seven States have had 
something to say. They must be on the same side of the room in 
Indiana (in buildings of over one room), Minnesota, North Dakota, 
and Vermont (usually). For the larger schools it is common to 
find the inlets placed well up on the walls. In Indiana the height 
is not less than 5 feet above the floor. Mimiesota and Ohio place 
inlets 8 feet or more above the floor, but Ohio permits foot warmers 
in the floor. Vermont says merely that they must be near the ceil- 
ing, while North Dakota goes no further than to forbid their being 
ii\ the floor. Vents are to be placed at floor level in Indiana, Minne- 
sota, and Texas; at or near the floor level in North Dakota and 
Vermont; not over 2 inches above the floor line in Ohio; at the base 
of the chimney in South Dakota. If the wardrobe is not separated 
from the classroom, the vent shall be placed in the former (Indiana, 
Ohio). "Foot warmers" in the floor are forbidden in Indiana. 

Size of inlets and outlets. — The size of flues may be governed by 
their relationship (1) to the size of room, (2) to the size of other 
flues, (3) to the size of registers. Very different bases have been 
adopted for the determination of size of flues in relation to size of 
room. Indiana requires only that ventilating ducts shall be ample 
to withdraw the air four times per hour, but the State board of health 
has standardized with commendable accuracy and has made some- 
what different requirements when the foul-air and smoke vents are 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 55 

separate than when they are the same or when a different system of 
ventilation is employed. The cubic feet of air space in the room is 
the guide; but if ceiling height is figured at 12 feet, the minimum 
permitted, we can approximate the minimum ratio of cross section 
of inlet to floor area. For one-room buildings it will vary according 
to conditions from about 1 to 350 to 1 to 650, which is considerably 
less than in the other States compared in the next paragraph. For 
the larger buildings with plenum systems of ventilation inlets may 
have a minimum cross-sectional area of 9 square inches for each 
occupant, while for gravity systems the minimum is 16 square inches 
per occupant. Supposing the room once again to have the minimum 
ceiling of 12 feet and to be filled to its capacity of one person per 225 
cubic feet of air space, the ratio of cross section of inlets to floor area 
would be about 1 to 300 for a plenum system and 1 to 170 for a 
gravity system. 

For an ordinary one-room school with a jacketed stove and 30 
pupils in the room Vermont demands an inlet 24 inches by 30 inches; 
New Jersey fixes 1 square foot per 10 pupils as the cross section of 
intakes. South Dakota and Minnesota make the size of intakes 
dependent upon floor area. By utilizing the minimum requirements 
of floor area per pupil, we can secure a ratio between the cross sec- 
tion of inlets and the floor area for comparison of the four States as 
follows : 

1 to 108- Vermont. 
1 to 144— South Dakota. 

1 to 160 — Minnesota (gravity system, connected with furnace or steam plant). 
1 to 180 — New Jersey. 
1 to 270 — Minnesota (plenum system) . 

1 to 400 — Minnesota (buildings of less than four rooms with furnaces or jacketed 
stoves). 

The results for Minnesota, at least, are quite closely comparable 
with those for Indiana (see preceding paragraph). 

Absolute minima. — Minnesota has also set absolute minima, regard- 
less of the size of the room. The State superintendent, in passing 
upon applications for State aid, will hold for inlets and vents 
15 inches in diameter for one and two-room schools. These 
minima will maintain the ratio 1 to 400 for rooms 18 feet by 24 feet 
to 18 feet by 27 feet. For furnace heat and homemade systems of 
ventilation the State superintendent in granting State aid stands for 
inlets and outlets 20 inches by 20 inches, the latter perhaps con- 
taining a smokestack of 8 inches diameter. The fixed minima for 
inlets and outlets in Indiana is 12 inches by 12 inches. 

Relative size of inlets and outlets. — Consideration of the size of flues 
in relation to size of other flues means a comparison of inlets and 
outlets. Usually the requirement is that the outlets shall be at least 




56 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 

as large as the inlets (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, South 
Dakota). The State superintendent of North Dakota takes 
the opposite view. In Indiana, however, the policy is reversed 
according to the method of ventilation employed. If it is the 
plenum, the inlets may be 10 per cent smaller than the outlets; if 
it is by gravity, the outlet may be one-eighth smaller than the inlet. 

Relative size of registers and flues. — Registers of the same size as 
the horizontal area or cross section of warm-air ducts are branded as 
inefficient in Minnesota. The State superintendent asks for an excess 
of 25 per cent in register area over flue area, to compensate for 
grill work, whereas in Indiana an allowance of but 5 per cent is made 
for this factor. Registers for vents are declared unnecessary in 
Minnesota, and forbidden in Indiana except with stoves and heaters. 
The latter State permits an approved damper to close the vent when 
not in use. The Ohio law calls for vent registers 50 per cent larger 
than vent flues, if a register is used. 

Windows or doors in ventilation. — A half dozen States frankly admit 
their reliance upon doors or windows for ventilation. This is seen 
in the requirement that all windows must lower from the top and 
raise from the bottom (Delaware) ; that windows must be capable of 
being lowered from the top and the transoms opened (Louisiana); 
that if windows alone must be relied upon they must be readily 
adjustable at top and bottom (Pennsylvania). More direct is the 
rule that doors and windows shall be opened at each intermission to 
flood the room with fresh air (California, Indiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, 
Washington). 

Miscellaneous. — Miscellaneous regulations on ventilation can not 
be conveniently summarized because of their diversity. A few gen- 
eral provisions may be placed first: There must be a satisfactory 
means of exhaust and "some form of forced ventilation in buildings 
of more than four rooms" (Montana). There shall be facilities for 
exha.\vaVmg the foul air "independently of atmospheric changes" 
(New York, Utah, Virginia). Rural schools which, among other 
things, install "an adequate system of ventilation" are entitled to 
special State aid of $50 per year for three years (Wisconsin). The 
State superintendent is empowered to fix the standards, and the 
county and district superintendents are empowered to rule whether 
the standards are met. 1 The State board of health "shall also 
examine into and devise as to * * * the ventilation and warm- 
ing of public halls, churches, schoolhouses," etc. (West Virginia). 
The velocity of the air introduced shall not be over 300 feet per 
minute (New Jersey), or it shall be between 300 and 400 feet per 
minute (New York). In a steam gravity system for each square foot 

1 These standards were briefly referred to on p. 55. ante. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 57 

of horizontal area of fresh-air flues there must be 50 square feet of 
indirect radiation, and an accelerating coil equivalent to not less than 
20 square feet shall be provided for each vent flue (Minnesota). The 
object of the first part of this provision is the heating of the fresh air, 
a point that is not overlooked by the State superintendent in exam- 
ining petitions for State aid. Fresh air must be heated before it is 
discharged into the schoolroom (North Dakota). The introduction of 
fresh air at the base of a direct radiator is prohibited (Minnesota). 
Each classroom must have separate inlet and outlet flues (New 
Jersey). The smoke pipe from a jacketed stove shall enter the vent 
flue not over 6 feet from the floor (Vermont). An approved ventilat- 
ing stove is allowed in one and two room buildings (New Jersey). The 
State superintendent in approving plans will expect the cold-air duct 
to be lined with metal, with the outer end so sloping as to keep it 
dry and all openings screened against entrance by animals (South 
Dakota). In a plenum system of ventilation the air pressure inside 
the room shall be in excess of that outside (Minnesota). By a sep- 
arate system of ventilation through vertical flues, hoods shall be 
provided in all domestic-science rooms and chemical laboratories 
sufficient to conduct away offensive odors. This system shall be 
operated by electric fans if an electric current is available or by 
accelerating coils if steam or hot water is used for heating (Ohio). 
Gas plates or gas stoves used in connection with either cooking or 
laboratory work shall be connected by hoods with a separate vertical 
vent flue, in which an upward draft shall be constant (Indiana). 

Humidification. — One item certainly merits the distinction of a 
separate paragraph. In Minnesota the State superintendent, before 
he allows State aid to any school, requires that furnace heaters be 
supplied with a reservoir to humidify the air on its way to the school- 
room. If other simpler forms of heating are in use, an evaporating 
dish or vessel must be properly placed near the source of heat. An 
exception is made in favor of steam heat. 



X. CLEANING AND DISINFECTING. 

Ordinary and extraordinary cleaning and disinfecting. — Provisions 
for cleaning and disinfecting in relation to the school plant in general 
are considered here, since discussion of the special care of toilets and 
outbuildings has been shifted to the section which treats of those 
accommodations. In over one-fourth of the States only has this 
important subject been controlled in any degree outside the districts 
themselves. Some of the laws or regulations are almost model; 
others are wholly inadequate. State boards of health are to be 
thanked for nearly all that has been accomplished. Aside from 



58 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

Connecticut, 1 Massachusetts, 2 Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, 3 which 
prohibit by law spitting on the floor of any public building, and 
Louisiana 4 and Vermont, where the boards of health forbid spitting 
in any schoolroom, 12 States have entered this field; 9 of these provide 
for regular or ordinary cleaning or disinfecting; 7 States discuss 
special cases. Minnesota is disposed of by citing the unique require- 
ment that "each entrance must be provided with foot scrapers and 
cocoa or steel mats," 5 while the State superintendent of North 
Dakota has a similar condition when granting State aid. 6 

Treatment of floors. — Ordinary cleaning and disinfecting is covered 
by all sorts of provisions, such as special treatment of the floors, proper 
time for the work, prohibitions and prescriptions of methods, mate- 
rials, etc. All floors except hardwood or tile must be oiled twice a 
year, and three times if school holds nine months. Oiling shall always 
be preceded by a scrubbing (Indiana). 7 All floors must be treated 
with some antiseptic dressing approved by the State analyst. They 
are to be scrubbed before each treatment, and treated often enough to 
keep down the dust (Louisiana). 

Frequency of cleaning. — As to frequency of cleaning, etc., there are 
the following standards: All schoolhouses shall be cleaned and dis- 
infected before the opening of each school year; 8 the janitor shall 
remove chalk dust daily and clean erasers outside (Indiana); floors 
shall be swept daily; desks, wainscoting, window sills, and blackboards 
must be wiped daily with a 1-2,000 solution of bichloride of mercury 
or a 3 per cent solution of carbolic acid; all schools shall be disin- 
fected "before the beginning of each school session" (Louisiana). 9 
In rural schools floors, interior woodwork, and windows shall be 
thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned every three months (Montana). 10 
Balustrades of stairways and door knobs are to be wiped daily with a 
cloth moistened hi a solution of formaldehyde or carbolic acid (Ne- 
braska) , n Every local board of health shall cause each schoolhouse 
in its jurisdiction to be disinfected every 30 days, except in vacation 
time (North Dakota) , 12 In all cities a method of disinfection shall be 
adopted for the fumigation of schools at regular intervals of not more 
than two weeks (Pennsylvania) , 13 Pennsylvania further requires that 

1 Acts of 1909, eh. 166. 

2 Act approved Mar. 2, 1908. 

* Laws of 1911, eh. 407. 

* School Laws, p. 125. 

6 Bull. No. 40, Dept. Pub. Instr. 

* State aid to consolidated, graded, and rural schools. 

7 Book: of Instructions to Health Authorities, issued by State Bd. of Health, p. 37. 

8 School Laws, p. 137. 
s Ibid, p. 126. 

io Laws of 1913. 

» School Law, p. 121. 

i 2 Laws of 1911, eh. 63. 

1 3 Purdon's Digest of Statute Law of State of Pennsylvania, pp. 698-699. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 59 

"all school directors, trustees, principals, and presidents of schools 
and colleges outside of cities * * * pay prompt and regular 
attention to the disinfection of buildings used for educational pur- 
poses immediately after the discovery of any communicable disease 
within said building." 1 Floors shall be swept daily except on holi- 
days; all wainscoting, window ledges, and furniture shall be 
wiped daily with a cloth dampened by an approved disinfectant; all 
removable rugs, cushions, and other upholstery are to be thoroughly 
aired and sunned by removal from the building weekly (Texas) . 2 All 
sweepings must be removed daily; furniture and woodwork are to be 
wiped with a disinfectant solution once a month and with a damp 
cloth once a week (Virginia). 3 All schoolhouses, before school opens 
at the beginning of each school term, shall be thoroughly cleaned 
(Wisconsin) . 4 The new Wisconsin law of 1913 requires the use of 
vacuum sweepers. 

Methods prescribed. — Prescriptions of method are as follows: 
"Cleaning shall consist in first sweeping, then scrubbing the floors, 
washing the windows and all woodwork, including the wooden parts 
of seats and desks, and the disinfecting shall be done in accordance 
with the rules of the State board of health," dusting shall be done with 
an oiled cloth (Indiana) ; windows shall be thrown open after sweep- 
ing and the rooms thoroughly aired, disinfection follows the rules of 
the State board of health (Louisiana); the local or State board of 
health must approve all methods of disinfection (Pennsylvania); 
before sweeping, the floor shall be sprinkled with an approved disin- 
fectant solution, saturated sawdust preferred (Texas) ; no disinfectant 
solution is necessary, but the floor must first be dampened with water, 
damp sawdust, or damp paper (Virginia). 

Practices forbidden. — Several very common practices are forbidden 
in some States. Dry sweeping is tabooed in Indiana. No sweeping 
can be done until after dismissal for the day in Indiana, Louisiana, 
Texas, and Virginia, The Indiana State board of health orders that 
blackboards and erasers shall not be cleaned by pupils, nor until the 
session is over. With a single exception every rule is of State-wide 
application. 

Extraordinary cleaning.— Extraordinary cleaning or disinfecting 
follows in seven States immediately upon the discovery in any school 
of any of a certain class of diseases. These are variously described as 
"communicable," "dangerous communicable," "contagious," "infec- 
tious," and "quarantinable." But three of the States have a special 
list of specific diseases that call at once for action. 5 This list includes 

1 Rules and Regulations, Aug. 15, 1911. 

2 School Laws, pp. 92-93. 

3 School Laws, p. 45. 

* Laws of 1911, ch. 44; acts of 1913, ch. 274. 

» See published rules of boards of health of various States. 



60 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION". 

scarlet fever, smallpox, and diphtheria in all three States, measles in 
two, and infantile paralysis, epidemic spinal-meningitis, and bubonic 
plague in one each. In Indiana and Michigan it is only the rooms 
attended by the stricken child that must be disinfected, but in the 
other States the entire building must be closed and treated. The 
method of disinfection is in the hands of the State board of health 
with one possible exception, and this body has been very careful in 
some States to explain everything to the minutest detail. Drawers, 
closets, and desks are opened. Books are stood on end, wide open. 
The rooms are made air-tight, kept sealed for six hours, then flooded 
with fresh air for another six. Corrosive sublimate solution may be 
afterwards used to wipe all clothes closets and desks; for metal fix- 
tures a solution of carbolic acid in hot water is commonly employed. 
Formaldehyde is favored by most as the disinfecting gas. 



XI. FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT. 

Two items of furniture and equipment at once occur to the mind as 
media with which the child is almost continually in contact during the 
school day. These are the books on the one hand, the desk and seat 
on the other. It is with these in some form that most of the rules 
under this section deal. 

Books. — Two general classes of provisions affect books, (1) those 
which concern disinfection, (2) those that relate primarily to the 
hygiene of the eye. Rule XXI of the Idaho State Board of Health 
states that school or library books taken to a house where Asiatic 
cholera, smallpox, yellow fever, infantile paralysis, typhus fever, 
diphtheria (membranous croup), cerebro-spmal meningitis, or scarlet 
fever exists, must be destroyed. The State law also says that books 
belonging to any district which happen to be in the house of a pupil 
when he is confined with a quarantinable disease, must be disinfected 
by the attending physician before being returned to the school. 1 
Rules of the Wisconsin 2 and Nebraska 3 State boards of health are 
equivalent to that of the Idaho board. The Oregon board requires 
that under similar conditions books shall be destroyed or properly 
disinfected before being placed again in circulation. 4 Since Dr. L. B. 
Nice reported in 1911 that nine States disinfect by steam or burn 
badly soiled books, 5 it may well be that the above data do not repre- 
sent fully the present status. The statutes of Maine contain a useful 
provision that no second-hand books shall be purchased by any 
district. 8 

i School Laws, p. 60. 

2 Rule 11. 

3 School Law, p. 121. 

4 Statutes relating to public health, etc. , p. 48. 

s Monthly Bull., Ohio State Bd. of Health, Aug., 1912, p. 272. 
« Laws of 1909, ch. 131. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 61 

Alabama, 1 Florida, 2 Georgia, 3 Kentucky, 4 Louisiana, 5 Mississippi, 8 
Missouri, 7 North Carolina, 8 Oklahoma, 9 and South Dakota, 10 legally 
authorize textbook commissions, usually of the State, sometimes of 
the county, to consider in the selection of texts such qualities as 
printing, type, paper, binding, etc. Oddly enough, these commis- 
sions appear not to have adopted definite standards. 

Seats and desks. — On general furniture Delaware is at least ex- 
plicit. The furniture must be modern according to the standards 
of the State board of education, 11 but what these standards are is a 
matter of doubt. Apparently they have not been published. Min- 
nesota is the only State that has legally adopted single desks; 12 20 per 
cent of all desks and seats in each room shall be adjustable in In- 
diana. 13 Adjustable furniture is not spoken of in either the Vermont 
statutes or in the rules of the State board of health, but the corre- 
spondence of the latter body shows that the schools at Newbury, 
Groton, and Royalton have been compelled to put in adjustable 
seats. 14 The Indiana health authorities in each locality are charged 
to see that the adjustable furniture is changed once or twice each 
year to allow for the growth of the pupils; 15 and the State health offi. 
cers make some special requirements for crippled children. Desks- 
shall be "of suitable size" (Minnesota). The State superintendent 
in South Dakota before approving plans will look carefully to the 
spacing of seats. 18 He will expect an interval of 9 inches from the 
back of the seat to the edge of the desk in primary rooms, 10 inches 
in intermediate grades, 11 or 12 inches in grammar grades, and 1 foot 
in the high school. He advises against the policy of placing different 
sizes of seats in the same row. The Vermont Board of Health de- 
scribes the seat and desk in some detail. 17 The height of seat shall 
correspond to the length of the leg below the knee; the seat must be 
horizontal or slightly curved, the lower back convex, the upper back 
concave; the desk and seat are to overlap slightly, and the desk for 
writing to slant about 15°. The New Jersey State Board of Educa- 

i Gen. Pub. School Laws. 

2 Digest of School Laws, p. 100. 

» School Laws and Decisions, p. 50. 

• School Laws, p. 338. 

' Ses. Laws of 1910, Act No. 39. 

• School Laws, p. 42. 

7 Revised School Laws, p. 108. 
s Public School Law, p. 86. 

• Laws and Opinions for the Regulation and Support of the Common Schools, p. 16. 
io School Laws, sec. 225-235. 

» Personal Letter of State Supt., dated May 7, 1913. 

h State Health Laws and Reg., p. 54. 

n School Law, p. 135. 

i« Sixteenth Rept. of State Bd. of Health, pp. 26, 25, 44. 

15 Book of Instruction to Health Authorities, issued by State Bd. of Health. 

i« Bien. Rept. State Supt. Pub. Instr. (1910-12), p. 154. 

i' Regulations issued May 1, 1911. 



62 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 



tion includes the location of each pupil's desk and the teacher's desk 
in the blue prints of the plans on which it passes, and no seating 
arrangements may be changed without the board's approval. 1 Aisles 
at the side and rear of the room in South Dakota must be at least 30 
inches, all others about 20 inches. According to the Ohio law all 
classrooms must have aisles on all wall sides. The minima for wall 
and center aisles are as follows: 2 

Minimum width of aisles in Ohio. 



Grades. 


Center. 


Wall. 




Inches. 
17 
18 
20 


Inches. 
28 
30 
36 









For auditoriums additional detailed provision is made. All seats, 
chairs, and desks for pupils in classrooms or auditoriums shall be fas- 
tened to the floor, unless less than 16 pupils are seated in the room. 
Not a word more about classroom seating, but in assembly rooms 
(those accommodating over 100 persons) benches or chairs shall not 
be less than 2\ feet from back to back, measuring horizontally, and the 
width of the seats shall average 20 inches per person, measuring from 
center to center of seat arms. No such seat shall be less than 19 inches 
wide, and if benches are used, 15 inches of bench length shall be 
allotted each person. In assembly halls no seat shall have more than 
six seats between it and the aisle. Thus it impresses one that, while 
Ohio has more legislation on seating than any other State, the entire 
effort has been directed toward the prevention of injury or death in 
an emergency, rather than toward conserving the health of the child 
day by day. 

Blackboards. — The Montana Board of Health forbids blackboards 
between windows. 3 The Indiana law requires that they be a dead 
black. 4 The Vermont Board of Health combines the two require- 
ments. There appears to be an utter absence of rules regardmg the 
height of blackboards, though several State departments of educa- 
tion make suggestions. Those of South Dakota may be quoted as 
typical. "The following are the best heights adapted to the various 
grades: 26 inches for primary grades, 30 inches for the intermediate 
grades, and 36 inches for grammar and high-school grades." 5 

1 State Building Code, 

2 State Building Code, Part 2, title 3, sec. 10. The same figures exactly have been adopted by the Ind. 
State Bd. of Health. See Bull., 1913, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., pp. 17-18. 

8 Regulation 26. 

i School Law, p. 135. 

5 Bien. Rep. of State Supt. (1910-1912), p. 152. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 63 

XII. MISCELLANEOUS. 

Basements. — The basement has often been regarded as a legitimate 
place to dispose of the overflow in rapidly growing school systems. 
The possible dangers of basement schoolrooms are receiving recognition 
at present, and there seems a well-defined drift toward doing away 
with such quarters altogether except for temporary uses. Minnesota 
was the first State to take drastic action. A law of 1909 directs that 
in any city of 20,000 or more no basement room shall be employed 
for "grade school purposes," unless it is used exclusively for domestic 
science, manual training, or physical culture. 1 This statute was not 
made fully operative till the opening of the school year 1912-13, thus 
permitting towns to adjust themselves to the new conditions. It is 
now made applicable to a school in any locality, regardless of popu- 
lation. A basement room was defined as one ' ' the floor of which is 
below the surface of the surrounding ground on all sides of said room." 
The Ohio State building code declares that all rooms used for school 
purposes, except those devoted to domestic science, manual training, 
and recreation, must be wholly above grade line. The exceptions 
noted may be placed partly below grade if properly lighted, heated, 
and ventilated, 2 but all basement rooms used by pupils or public 
must have a waterproof floor. 

All two-story school buildings shall have a dry, well-lighted base- 
ment under the entire building, the floor of the basement to be 
cement or concrete, and the ceiling 10 feet high (Indiana). 3 In the 
smaller buildings, where the basements are not finished or not properly 
heated and ventilated, a swinging door with spring hinges shall be 
used to prevent basement air from entering rooms or corridors above 
(Indiana). 4 

Foundations. — All school buildings shall have a solid foundation 
of brick, tile, stone, or concrete, and thorough ventilation between 
ground and floor, the latter to be not less than 3 feet above the earth; 
and all brick school buildings shall have a foundation of vitrified 
brick, or of stone, or have above the ground line a layer of slate, 
vitrified brick, stone, or other impervious material (Indiana). More- 
over, no foundation shall be laid on filled ground or soil containing a 
mixture of organic matter. A rule of the Vermont State Board of 
Health denies approval of plans unless floors of buildings without 
cellars are 2 feet above ground and free circulation of air allowed 
beneath. 5 South Dakota is satisfied with 18 inches. 6 

I Laws of 1909, ch. 52. 4 Bull., 1913, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., p. 15. 

» Part 2, title 3. » Regulations issued May 1, 1911. 

3 School Law, p. 134. « Bien. Rep. of State Supt. Pub. Instr. (1910-1912), p. 151. 



64 SGHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

Floors. — Provisions affecting floors look mostly toward one end, 
viz, tightness. All toilet rooms, lavatories, and other rooms where 
plumbing fixtures are used, shall have a waterproof floor and base 
of nonabsorbent, indestructible material, such as asphalt, glass, mar- 
ble, vitrified or glazed tile or terrazzo, or monolithic composition 
(Ohio). 1 All floors of toilet rooms and others in which plumbing is 
found shall be of nonabsorbent, waterproof material, with nonabsorb- 
ent, waterproof base not less than 6 inches high and nonabsorbent, 
waterproof sanitary cove; wherever possible the floors of laborato- 
ries, domestic-science rooms, and corridors shall be subject to a simi- 
lar rule; floor coverings are prohibited except in the superintendent's 
or principal's office, rest rooms, or teachers' rooms (Indiana). 2 The 
new law in Texas reads that ' ' all floors shall have their surfaces made 
impervious to water and germs by a coat of boiling paraffin oil or 
other floor dressing having similar effect, applied immediately after 
the floor is laid." 3 Floors should be of hard, well-seasoned wood, 
closely laid, so as to leave no cracks (South Dakota). 

Interior finish. — Recent years have witnessed the introduction of 
much greater simplicity into the architecture of the interior of all 
classes of buildings, to the end that the collection of dust may be 
decreased. This is just beginning to influence schoolhouse construc- 
tion. Ohio has done most in this direction, requiring (1) that all 
base shall be 6 inches high and have a sanitary cove at floor level, 
(2) that all interior wood finish shall be small as possible and free 
from unnecessary dust catchers, (3) that door and window jambs 
be rounded and plastered, except in museums, libraries, and art 
galleries. Indiana has practically an identical regulation. The 
Texas law referred to in the preceding paragraph also provides that 
all interior woodwork shall be without "such unnecessary fluting, 
turning, or carving as catch dust and microbes." "Wainscoting 
should never be used in a school building, as it is insanitary" (South 
Dakota). 4 

Wardrobes and vestibules. — The Indiana law reads that separate 
and well-lighted, warmed, and ventilated cloakrooms, or sanitary 
lockers, shall be provided for each study schoolroom. 5 If separated 
from classrooms, the wardrobes shall be separately heated and ven- 
tilated the same as the former (Ohio, Indiana ). 6 A cloakroom shall 
be at least 6 feet wide and have an outside window (Minnesota). 7 
New schools of one and two rooms must have a vestibule of reason- 

i State Building Code, part 2, title 3. & School Law, p. 135. 

2 Bull., 1913, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., p. 11. <= Bull., 1913, No. 52, U. S. Bu. of Ed., p. 15. 

s Law effective July 1, 1913. 7 State Health Laws and Reg., p. 54. 

* Bien. Rep. State Supt. Pub. Instr. (1910-12), p. 154. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 65 

able size (Montana). 1 Corridors when used as coatrooms shall be 
well lighted and ventilated (Vermont). 

Protection from boiler explosion. — Insurance against the horrors 
attendant upon a boiler explosion have been in the minds of legis- 
lators of several States when passing school laws. They have gone 
about the business in as many different ways. Maine looks to the 
engineer. It has enacted that a school, church, or other public 
building heated by a steam plant under or near such building, must 
employ to care for the same a person whose capacity shall be tested 
by the local municipal authorities. 2 Massachusetts tests the boiler 
instead of the engineer. Steam boilers in public buildings are to be 
inspected as often as once a year, both externally and internally, as 
to general condition, safety valve, appliances for indicating pressure, 
etc.; and all boilers shall have a fusible safety plug of lead or some- 
thing equally fusible. 3 Ohio has decided to change the location of 
the boiler if necessary. "No cast-iron boiler carrying more than 10 
pounds pressure or steel boiler carrying more than 35 pounds pres- 
sure shall be located within the main walls of any school building." 
These three laws regarding steam boilers are no doubt only repre- 
sentatives of their classes, since similar enactments are to be found 
in a large number of the States. 

Rest rooms. — Ohio has spoken on one very interesting feature. In 
all schools of four to eight class rooms there must be one rest room; 
in all schools of over eight classrooms, two rest rooms. The equip- 
ment of such a room shall consist of a couch, supplies for first aid 
to the injured, water supply, and toilet accommodations. 

The school hack. — Since Indiana has led the country in the move- 
ment for consolidation and transportation, it is not surprising that 
it has regulated somewhat the hygiene of the school hack. This 
vehicle must be well lighted, heated, and ventilated. Twice a year, 
once at the opening of school and again at Christmas, it shall be 
thoroughly cleaned and disinfected according to the rules of the 
State board of health. There is to be no overcrowding, but each 
child shall have a comfortable seat. Foot rests shall be provided 
for smaller pupils if their feet do not rest comfortably on the floor. 

Ohio has yet another provision that must be classed as miscel- 
laneous, because it may have a variety of bearings. No school build- 
ing shall occupy over 75 per cent of a corner lot, or 70 per cent of 
any other site. 

i Laws of 1913. 3 Acts of 1907, ch. 465. 

2 Laws relating to public schools, p. 49. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



The following is a list of sources used in the preliminary investiga- 
tion for this bulletin. For later revisions see tables in the text of 
the bulletin. 

Alabama. — General Public School Laws of Alabama. Brown Printing Co. Mont- 
gomery, 1911. 224 pp. 
Arkansas.— Digest of Statutes (1905); Acts of 1905; Acts of 1911; Acts of 1913. 
California. — School Law of California. Sacramento, 1911. 355 pp. 

Rules and Regulations of State Board of Education. 
Colorado. — The School Laws of the State of Colorado, as Amended to January 1, 1912. 
The Smith-Brooks Co., State Printers. Denver. 467 pp. 

Revised Statutes of 1908. 
Connecticut. — Revised Statutes of 1888. 

General Statutes. 

Laws of 1907; Laws of 1909; Acts of 1911; Acts of 1913. 

81 Conn. 276. 
Delaware.— School Laws, 1898-1909. Smyrna Times Print. Smyrna, 1909. 924-22 

PP- 
Laws of Delaware. 

16th Biennial Report of the Board of Health of the State of Delaware 
(1908-1910). 
Florida.— Digest of the School Laws of the State of Florida. T. J. Appleyard. Talla- 
hassee, 1911. 207 pp. 
General Statutes. 
Acts of 1909. 

Fire Code of Public Schools, based on Laws of Florida, Ch. 5937, sec. 6. 
Georgia. — Georgia School Laws and Decisions. 1911. 112 pp. 

Idaho.— School Laws of Idaho. Lewiston Evening Teller. Lewiston, 1911. 114 pp. 
Laws of 1909. 
Revised Codes. 
Handbook of Information for Trustees, containing rules of State Board of 

Education. 
Rules of State Board of Health. 
Illinois. — Revised Statutes (1911). 

Indiana.— School Law of Indiana. Indianapolis, 1911. 537 pp. Acts of 1913. 
Burns' Annotated Statutes, Revision of 1908. 
Blue v. Beach, 155 Ind. 121. 
Reports of State Board of Health, various years. 

Book of Instructions to Health Authorities, issued by State Board of 
Health. 
Iowa.— School Laws of Iowa. Edition of 1911. Emory H. English. Dea Moinea, 
1912. 326 pp. Acta of 1913, ch. 193. 
Supplement, Code of 1907. 
Laws of 1909. 
66 



SCHOOLHOTJSE SANITATION. 67 

Kansas. — Laws Relating to the Common Schools of Kansas. State Printing Office. 
Topeka, 1911. 248 pp. 
General Statutes of 1909. 
Kentucky. — Common School Laws of the State of Kentucky. Louisville Continental 
Printing Co. Louisville, 1910. 220 pp. School laws, 1914, pp. 211. 
Statutes of 1909. 

Report of State Board of Health, 1908-9. 
Louisiana. — Public School Laws of Louisiana. Eighth Compilation. Baton Rouge, 
1912. 132 pp. 
Revised Statutes. 

Constitution and Revised Laws, 1904; Amendments to same, 1904-1908. 
Session Laws of 1910. 
Maine. — Laws of Maine relating to Public Schools. Kennebec Journal Print. Au- 
gusta, 1911. 80 pp. 
Laws of 1909. 
Maryland. — Public School Laws of Maryland. Meyer & Thalheimer. Baltimore, 
1910. 91 pp. School laws of 1913. 
Laws of 1906; Laws of 1912. 
Massachusetts. — Revised Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts relating to 
Public Instruction (to 1911, inclusive). 101 pp. 
Revised Laws of 1902. 

Acts of 1906.; Acts of 1907; Acts of 1908; Acts of 1910; Acts of 1912. 
Monthly Bulletin of State Board of Health, August, 1912. 
Regulations issued by inspector of factories and public buildings. 
Michigan. — State of Michigan. General School Laws. Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, 
Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, 1911. 230 pp. 
Laws of 1911. 

Public Health, January-March, 1910. Published Quarterly by the State 
Department of Health. 
Minnesota. — Revised Laws of 1905. 

Laws of 1909; Laws of 1913, ch. 61, 415, 507. 

Bulletin No. 40. Minnesota Department of Public Instruction. State 

Aid. January, 1913. 
Minnesota State Health Laws and Regulations. Issued May 1, 1912. 
Mississippi. — School Laws. State of Mississippi. Annotated Code of 1906. Brandon 
Printing Co. Nashville, Tenn., 1906. 63 pp. School laws, 1914. 
Code of 1906. 
Laws of 1910. 
Missouri. — Revised School Laws of the State of Missouri. Hugh Stephens Printing 
Co. Jefferson City, 1911. 146 pp. 
Revised Statutes, 1909. 
Laws of 1911; Laws of 1913. 
Montana. — School Laws of the State of Montana. Compiled at Office of Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, October, 1911. 189 pp. 
Revised Codes, 1907. 
Laws of 1913. 

Rules of State Board of Health. 

Bulletin of Department of Public Health, State of Montana, Vol. 6, No. 1. 
Nebraska. — Nebraska School Laws. Hammond & Stephens Co. Fremont, 1911. 
138 pp. 
Cobbey's Compiled Statutes, 1907. 
Law of April 10, 1911; Acts of 1913, ch. 82. 
Regulations of Department of Labor. 



68 SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 

Nevada.— State of Nevada. The School Code, 1911. State Printing Office. Carson 
City, 1912. 120 pp. 
Revised Laws of 1912. 
119 Pac. 770. 
New Hampshire. — Laws of New Hampshire relating to Common Schools. John B. 
Clarke Co. Manchester, 1911. 86 pp. 
Public Statutes in force January 1, 1901. 
Laws of 1911. 

Fogg v. Board of Education of Littleton (not yet in printed court reports). 
New Jersey — New Jersey School Laws. MacCrellish & Quigley. Trenton, 1911. 
292 pp. 
State Building Code, issued by State Board of Education. 
Compiled Statutes, 1709-1910. Acts of 1914. 
New York — Education Law. Education Department Bulletin No. 512. State of 
New York, 1912. 427 pp. 
Circular letter of August 1, 1912, issued by Commissioner of Education. 
North Carolina — Public School Law of North Carolina. Raleigh, 1913. 143 pp. 

Public Laws, 1909. 
North Dakota — State of North Dakota. General School Laws. Knight Printing Co. 
Fargo, 1911. 152 pp. Acts of 1913. 
Laws of 1911; Laws of 1913. 

State Aid to Consolidated, Graded, and Rural Schools. Issued by State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
Ohio — School Laws of the State of Ohio. F. J. Heer Printing Co. Columbus, 1910. 
257 pp. 
Code of 1910. 

Laws of 1910; Laws of 1913; School laws of 1914, S. B. 9. 
Ohio State Building Code. F. J. Heer Printing Co. Columbus, 1912. 

272 pp. 
Minutes of meeting of State Board of Health, January 22, 1913. 
Oklahoma — Laws and Opinions for the Regulation and Support of the Common Schools. 
Peerless Press. Oklahoma City, 1910. 104 pp. 
Revised Laws. 

Law of April 28, 1908; Law of March 20, 1911. 
2d Biennial Report of State Public Health Department. 
Oregon — Oregon School Laws. Willis S. Duniway, Printer. Salem, 1911. 155 pp. 
Lord's Oregon Laws (General Laws). 

Statutes of Oregon relating to Public Health, and Rules and Regulations of 
the Oregon State Board of Health. Willis S. Duniway, Printer. Salem, 
1911. 71 pp. 
Laws of 1913. 
Pennsylvania — School Code of Pennsylvania. C. E. Aughinbaugh. Harrisburg, 
1911. 224 pp. 
Stewart's Purdon's Digest of the Statute Law of the State of Pennsylvania. 
13th edition. The Geo. T. Bisel Co. Philadelphia, 1905-10. 6934 pp. 
Supplement to Stewart's Purdon's Digest. 

Laws of 1895; Laws of 1903; Act of April 27, 1905; Act of April 13, 1911; 
Act of June 7, 1911. 
Rhode Island — Laws of Rhode Island Relating to Education. E. L. Freeman Co., 
State Printers. Providence, 1910. 119 pp. 
La^sof 1911. 
South Carolina — General School Law of South Carolina. The Michif Co., Printers. 
Charlottesville, Va. 97 pp. 
Acts of 1912; Acts of 1914. 



SCHOOLHOUSE SANITATION. 69 

South Dakota — School Laws of South Dakota. Educator School Supply Co. Mitchell, 
S. Dakota. 143 pp. 
Laws of 1911. 

Biennial Report of State Superintendent of Public Instruction (1910-12). 
Tennessee — Annotated Code, 1896. 

Texas — School Laws of Texas. Von Boeckmann-Jones Co., Printers. Austin, 1909. 
112 pp. 
Revised Civil Statutes; Acts of 1913, ch. 120. 
Utah— School Law of Utah. Star Printing Co. Salt Lake City, 1911. 156 pp. 
Compiled Laws, 1907. 
Laws of 1911. 

Ninth Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of 
Utah (advance sheets). 
Vermont — General Laws of the State of Vermont relating to Public Instruction. The 
Capital City Press, Printers. Montpelier, 1911. 69+14 pp. 
General Laws of 1906. 
Public Statutes. 

Rsgulations of State Board of Health, issued May 1, 1911. 
16th and 18th Reports of the State Board of Health of Vermont. 
Virginia — Virginia School Laws. Clyde W. Saunders, Printer. Richmond, 1910. 
244 pp. 
Laws of 1908; Laws of 1910; Laws of 1914. 
Washington — School Laws of the State of Washington. E. L. Boardman, Public 
Printer. Olympia, 1909. 160 pp. Acts of 1913. 
Codes and Statutes. State v. Superior Ct., Chelan Co., 1912. 
Rubs and Regulations oi State Board of Health for 1912. 
West Virginia — The Revised School Law of West Virginia. Charleston, 1911. 175 pp. 
State v. Board of Education, Clarksburg Sch. Dist., 1912. 
Code Annotated, 1906. 
Laws of 1913. 
Wisconsin — Laws of Wisconsin Relating to Common Schools. State Printer. Mad- 
ison, 1911. 403 pp. Acts of 1913. 
Supplement to Statutes, 1899-1906. 
Laws of 1907; Laws of 1909; Laws of 1911. 
Rules of the State Board of Health. 
Wyoming — Compiled Statutes, 1910. 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

[Note.— With the exceptions indicated, the documents named below will be sent free of charge upon 
application to the Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C. Those marked with an asterisk (*) 
are no longer available for free distribution, but may be had of the Superintendent of Documents, Govern- 
ment Printing Office, Washington, D. C, upon payment of the price stated. Remittances should be made 
in coin, currency, or money order. Stamps are not accepted. [Numbers omitted are out of print.] 



♦No. 3. State school systems: Legislation and judicial decisions relating to public education, Oct. 1, 1904 
to Oct. 1, 1906. Edward C. Elliott. 15 cts. 

1908. 

♦No. 5. Education in Formosa. Julean H. Arnold. 10 cts. 

*No. 6. The apprenticeship system in its relation to industrial education. Carroll D. Wright. 15 cts. 

1909. 

*No. 1. Facilities for study and research in the offices of the United States Government in Washington. 

Arthur T. Hadley. 10 cts. 
*No. 2. Admission of Chinese students to American colleges. John Fryer. 25 cts. 
*No. 3. Daily meals of school children. Caroline L. Hunt. 10 cts. 
No. 5. Statistics of public, society, and school libraries in 1908. 
*No. 6. Instruction in the fine and manual arts in the United States. A statistical monograph. Henry 

T. Bailey. 15 cts. 
No. 7. Index to the Reports of the Commissioner of Education, 1867-1907. 
*No. 8. A teacher's professional library. Classified list of 100 titles. 5 cts. 
*No. 9. Bibliography of education for 190S-9. 10 cts. 
No. 10. Education for efficiency in railroad service. J. Shirley Eaton. 

*No. 11. Statistics of State universities and other institutions of higher education partially supported by 
the State, 1908-9. 5 cts. 

1910. 

♦No. 1. The movement for reform in the teaching of religion in the public schools of Saxony. Arley B. 

Show. 5 cts. 
No. 2. State school systems: III. Legislation and judicial decisions relating to public education, Oct. 1, 
1908, to Oct. 1, 1909. Edward C. Elliott. 

1911. 

*No. 1. Bibliography of science teaching. 5 cts. 

♦No. 2. Opportunities for graduate study in agriculture in the United States. A. C. Monahan. 5 cts. 

*No. 3. Agencies for the improvement of teachers in service. William C. Ruediger. 15 cts. 

*No. 4. Report of the commission appointed to study the system of education in the public schools of 

Baltimore. 10 cts. 
♦No. 5. Age and grade census of schools and colleges. George D. Strayer. 10 cts. 
♦No. 6. Graduate work in mathematics in universities and in other institutions of like grade in the United 

States. 5 cts. 
No. 9. Mathematics in the technological schools of collegiate grade in the United States. 
♦No. 13. Mathematics in the elementary schools of the United States. 15 cts. 
♦No. 14. Provision for exceptional children in the public schools. J. H. Van Sickle, Lightner Witmer, 

and Leonard P. Ayres. 10 cts. 
♦No. 15. Educational system of China as recently reconstructed. Harry E. King. 10 cts. 
No. 19. Statistics of State universities and other institutions of higher education partially supported by 
the State, 1910-11. 

1912. 

♦No. 1. A course of study for the preparation of rural-school teachers. F.MutchlerandW. J. Craig. 5cts. 

♦No. 3. Report of committee on uniform records and reports. 5 cts. 

♦No. 4. Mathematics in technical secondary schools in the United States. 5 cts. 

♦No. 5. A study of expenses of city school systems. Harlan Updegraff. 10 cts. 

♦No. 6. Agricultural education in secondary schools. 10 cts. 

♦No. 7. Educational status of nursing. M. Adelaide Nutting. 10 cts. 

♦No. 8. Peace day. Fannie Fern Andrews. 5 cts. [Later publication, 1913, No. 12.] 

I 



II BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

♦No. 9. Country schools for city boys. William S. Myers. 10 cts. 
♦No. 13. Influences tending to improve the work of the teacher of mathematics. S cts. 
*No. 14. Report of the American commissioners of the international commission on the teaching of mathe- 
matics. 10 cts. 
♦No. 17. The Montessori system of education. Anna T. Smith. 5 cts. 
♦No. 18. Teaching language through agriculture and domestic science. M. A. Leiper. ^ cts. 
♦No. 19. Professional distribution of college and university graduates. Bailey B. Burritt. 10 cts. 

No. 22. Public and private high schools. 
♦No. 23. Special collections in libraries in the United States. W. D.Johnston and I. G. Mudge. 10 cts. 

No. 27. History of public-school education in Arkansas. Stephen B. Weeks. 
♦No. 28. Cultivating school grounds in Wake County, N. C. Zebulon Judd. 5 cts. 

No. 29. Bibliography of the teaching of mathematics, 1900-1912. D. E. Smith and C. Goldziher. 

No. 30. Latin-American universities and special schools. Edgar E. Brandon. 

1913. 

No. 1. Monthly record of current educational publications, January, 1913. 
♦No. 2. Training courses for rural teachers. A. C. Monahan and R. H. Wright. 5 cts. 
♦No. 3. The teaching of modern languages in the United States. Charles H. Handschin. 15 cts. 
♦No. 4. Present standards of higher education in the United States. George E. MacLean. 20 cts. 
♦No. 6. Agricultural instruction in high schools. C. H. Robison and F. B. Jenks. 10 cts. 
♦No. 7. College entrance requirements. Clarence D. Kingsley. 15 cts. 
♦No. 8. The status of rural education in the United States. A. C. Monahan. 15 cts. 
♦No. 12. The promotion of peace. Fannie Fern Andrews. 10 cts. 

♦No. 13. Standards and tests for measuring the efficiency of schools or systems of schools. 5 cts. 
♦No. 16. Bibliography of medical inspection and health supervision. 15 cts. 

♦No. 18. The fifteenth international congress on hygiene and demography. Fletcher B. Dresslar. 10 cts. 
♦No. 19. German industrial education and its lessons for the United States. Holmes Beckwith. 15 cts^ 
♦No. 20. Illiteracy in the United States. 10 cts. 

♦No. 22. Bibliography of industrial, vocational, and trade education. 10 cts. 
♦No. 23. The Georgia club at the State Normal School, Athens, Ga., for the study of rural sociology. E. C. 

Branson. 10 cts. 
♦No. 24. A comparison of public education in Germany and in the United States. Georg Kerschensteiner. 

Sets. 
♦No. 25. Industrial education in Columbus, Ga. Roland B. Daniel. 5 cts. 
♦No. 28. Expressions on education by American statesmen and publicists. 5 cts. 
♦No. 29. Accredited secondary schools in the United States. Kendrio C. Babcock. 10 cts. 
♦No. 30. Education in the South. 10 cts. 
♦No. 31. Special features in city school systems. 10 cts. 

No. 32. Educational survey of Montgomery County, Md. 
♦No. 34. Pension systems in Great Britain. Raymond W. Sies. 10 cts. 
♦No. 35. A list of books suited to a high-school library. 15 cts. 
♦No. 36. Report on the work of the Bureau of Education for the natives of Alaska, 1911-12. 10 cts. 

No. 37. Monthly record of current educational publications, October, 1913. 
♦No. 38. Economy of time in education. 10 cts. 

No. 39. Elementary industrial school of Cleveland, Ohio. W. N. Hailmann. 
♦No. 40. The reorganized school playground. Henry S. Curtis. 10 cts. 
♦No. 41. The reorganization of secondary education. 10 cts. 

No. 42. An experimental rural school at Winthrop College. H. S. Browne. 
♦No. 43. Agriculture and rural-life day; material for its observance. Eugene C. Brooks. 10 cts. 
♦No. 44. Organized health work in schools. E. B. Hoag. 10 cts. 

No. 45. Monthly record of current educational publications, November, 1913. 
♦No. 46. Educational directory, 1913. 15 cts. 

♦No. 47. Teaching material in Government publications. F. K. Noyes. 10 cts. 
♦No. 48. School hygiene. W. Carson Ryan, jr. 15 cts. 

No. 49. The Farragut School, a Tennessee country-life high school. A. C. Monahan and Adams Phillips. 
♦No. 50. The Fitchburg plan of cooperative industrial education. M. R. McCann. 10 cts. 
♦No. 51. Education of the immigrant. 10 cts. 
♦No. 52. Sanitary schoolhouses. Legal requirements in Indiana and Ohio. 5 cts. 

No. 53. Monthly record of current educational publications, December, 1913. 

No. 54. Consular reports on industrial education in Germany. 

No. 55. Legislation and judicial decisions relating to education, October 1, 1909, to October 1, 1912. James 
C. Boykin and William R. Hood. 

No. 58. Educational system of rural Denmark. Harold W. Foght. Q 

No. 59. Bibliography of education for 1910-11. 

No. 60. Statistics of State universities and other institutions of higher education partially supported by 
the State, 1912-13. 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. Ill 

1914 

♦No. 1. Monthly record of current educational publications, January ,1914. 5 cts. 

No. 2. Compulsory school attendance. 
♦No. 3. Monthly record of current educational publications, February, 1914. 5 cts. 

No. 4. The school and the start in life. Meyer Bloomfield. 

No. 5. The folk high schools of Denmark. L. L. Friend. 

No. 6. Kindergartens in the United States. 

No. 7. Monthly record of current educational publications, March, 1914. 

No. 8. The Massachusetts home-project plan of vocational agricultural education. R. W. Stimson. 

No. 9. Monthly record of current educational publications, April, 1914. 
♦No. 10. Physical growth and school progress. B. T. Baldwin. 25 cts. 

No. 11. Monthly record of current educational publications, May, 1914. 
♦No. 12. Rural schoolhouses and grounds. F. B. Dresslar. 60 cts. 

No. 13. Present status of drawing and art in the elementary and secondary schools of the United States. 
Royal B. Farnum. 

No. 14. Vocational guidance. 

No. 15. Monthly record of current educational publications. Index. 
♦No. 16. The tangible rewards of teaching. James C. Boykin and Roberta King. 50 cts. 

No. 17. Sanitary survey of the schools of Orange County, Va. Roy K. Flannagan. 

No. 18. The public school system of Gary, Ind. William P. Burris. 

No. 19. University extension in the United States. Louis E. Reber. 

No. 20. The rural school and hookworm disease. J. A. Ferrell. 

No. 21. Monthly record of current educational publications, September, 1914. 

No. 22. The Danish folk high schools. H. W. Foght. 

No. 23. Some trade schools in Europe. Frank L. Glynn. 

No. 24. Danish elementary rural schools. H. W. Foght. 

No. 25. Important features in rural school improvement. W. T. Hodges. 

No. 26. Monthly record of current educational publications, October, 1914. 
♦No. 27. Agricultural teaching. 15 cts. 

No. 28. The Montessori method and the kindergarten. Elizabeth Harrison. 

No. 29. The kindergarten In benevolent Institutions. 

No. 30. Consolidation of rural schools and transportation of pupils at public expense. A. C. Monahan. 

No. 31. Report on the work of the Bureau of Education for the natives of Alaska. 

No. 32. Bibliography of the relation of secondary schools to higher eduoation. R. L. Walkley. 

No. 33. Music in the public schools. Will Earhart. 

No. 34. Library instruction in universities, colleges, and normal schools. Henry R. Evans. 

No. 35. The training of teachers in England, Scotland, and Germany. Charles II. Judd. 

No. 36. Education for the home— Part I. General statement. B. R. Andrews. 

No. 37. Education for the home— Part II. State legislation, schools, agencies. B. R. Andrews 

No. 38. Education for the home— Part III. Colleges and universities. B. R. Andrews. 

No. 39. Education for the home— Part IV. Bibliography, list of schools. B. R. Andrews. 

No. 40. Care of the health of boys in Girard College, Philadelphia, Pa. 

No. 41. Monthly record of current educational publications, November, 1914. 

No. 42. Monthly record of current educational publications, December, 1914. 

No. 43. Educational directory, 1914-15. 

No. 44. County-unit organization for the administration of rural schools. A. C. Monahan. 

No. 45. Curricula in mathematics. J. C. Brown. 

No. 46. School savings banks. Mrs. Sara L. Oberholtzer. 

No. 47. City training schools for teachers. Frank A. Manny. 

No. 48. The educational museum of the St. Louis public schools. C. G. Rathman. 

No. 49. Efficiency and preparation of rural-school teachers. H. W. Foght. 

No. 50. Statistics of State universities and State colleges. 

1915. 

No. 1. Cooking in the vocational school. Iris P. O'Leary. 
No. 2. Monthly record of current educational publications, January, 1915. 
No. 3. Monthly record of current educational publications, February, 1915. 
No. 4. The health of school children. W. H. Heck. 
No. 5. Organization of State departments of education. A. C. Monahan. 
No. 6. A study of colleges and high schools. 

No. 7. Accredited secondary schools in the United States. Samuel P. Capen. 
No. 8. Present status of the honor system in colleges and universities. Bird T. Baldwin. 
No. 9. Monthly record of current educational publications, March, 1915. 
No. 10. Monthly record of current educational publications, April, 1915. 

No. 11. A statistical study of the public school systems of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Nor- 
man Frost. 



IV BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

No. 12. History of public school education in Alabama. Stephen B. Weeks. 

No. 13. The schoolhouse as the polling place. E. J. Ward. 

No. 14. Monthly record of current educational publications, May, 1915. 

No. 15. Monthly record of current educational publications, Index, Feb., 1914-Jan., 1915. 

No. 16. Monthly record of current educational publications, June, 1915. 

No. 17. Civic education in elementary schools as illustrated in Indianapolis. Arthur W. Dunn. 

No. 18. Legal education in Great Britain. H. S. Richards. 

No. 19. Statistics of agricultural, manual training, and industrial schools, 1913-14. 

No. 20. The rural school system of Minnesota. H. W. Foght. 

o 



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